Opéra-Comique, opera house on place Boieldieu since 1714

The Opéra-Comique, now the salle Favart on place Boieldieu, was founded on 26 December 1714 by Catherine Baron and Gautier de Saint-Edme, drawing on the troupes that played at the Paris fairs. A decree allowed it its own theatre on condition that spoken dialogue be mixed with the sung works: the definition of the genre to this day.

In 1743 Jean Monnet took over and invited the author Charles-Simon Favart. The first salle Favart opened on 28 April 1783 in the presence of Marie-Antoinette. The 19th century saw the premieres of Mignon, Carmen in 1875, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Lakmé and Manon, then Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in 1902.

Two fires, in 1838 and in 1887 during Mignon, destroyed the hall. Louis Bernier rebuilt it, and the third salle Favart was inaugurated on 7 December 1898 by President Félix Faure: the first theatre in France lit entirely by electricity. The house has been a national theatre since 2005.

In the 2nd arrondissement, the house has stood on the same plot since 1783. Statues of Carmen and Manon greet the audience in the vestibule. The repertoire runs from baroque music to new works, and a workshop still dyes costumes with natural pigments.