. The Argonaut . sers, and some hundreds of over-tures and other pieces never yet piaxedin public! There w-ere also many pictures and othersouvenirs of former quarters, for since its foundationin 1671 the Paris Opera has occupied twelve differentbuildings, three of which have been destroyed by present building was begun in 1862 and was com-pleted in 1874. The architect was Charles Gamier,and it is the largest and the handsomest playhousein the world. I am aware that there are those who saythat the architecture is too ornate, and that the muraland sculptural decorations are too florid.
. The Argonaut . sers, and some hundreds of over-tures and other pieces never yet piaxedin public! There w-ere also many pictures and othersouvenirs of former quarters, for since its foundationin 1671 the Paris Opera has occupied twelve differentbuildings, three of which have been destroyed by present building was begun in 1862 and was com-pleted in 1874. The architect was Charles Gamier,and it is the largest and the handsomest playhousein the world. I am aware that there are those who saythat the architecture is too ornate, and that the muraland sculptural decorations are too florid. This strikesme as being hypercritical. There are enough uglybuildings in the world for us to condemn. Whenthey have all been burned town, torn down, or blownup, then we can commence to condemn the ParisOpera. The principal facade of the Opera includes a firstfloor rising from a flight of steps and pierced bvseven arcades. It is surmounted by a loggia with six-teen great columns—stone monoliths—with balconies. trround plan of the great building of the Paris Opera nearly three acres. A is the Auditorium. Bis the gigantic 74x178 feet and 106 feet rectangle C is the Grand Staircase of is the Foyer /Public Lobby or Promenade). Eis the former Imperial Entrance, nont used by subscribersand for private carriages. F is the Foyer de la DanseI Stage Lobby or Ltrecnroom i. set off by eighteen marble columns. Above these bal-conies, framed by the red marble columns, are sevenrichly ornamented bulls-eyes, containing busts of thegreat composers—Mozart. Beethoven, Spontini. , Meyerbeer, Halevy. The various nationalitiesare interesting—two Germans, two Italians, oneFranco-German, and two Frenchmen, one of them aJew. In art, the French recognize no creeds, no races,no frontiers^they even admit to their great galleries,their art schools, their studios, without money andwithout price, American students, while generousAmerica, in return,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectjournal, bookyear1877
