Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe

Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Odeon (disambiguation).

48°50′58.2″N 2°20′19.5″E

Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe

Previous names Théâtre-Français du Faubourg Saint-Germain (1782-1789) Théâtre de la Nation (1789-1793) Théâtre de l'Égalité (1794-1796) Théâtre de l'Impératrice et Reine (1808-1818) Second Théâtre-Français (1819-1990)
Facade of the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe
Address	2 rue Corneille, 6th arrondissement of Paris Paris
Public transit	Odéon
Capacity	800
Construction
Opened	1782
Reopened	1808
Rebuilt	1819
Architect	Pierre Thomas Baraguay
Website
www.theatre-odeon.eu

The Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe (French pronunciation: [ɔdeɔ̃ teatʁ də løʁɔp], European Music Hall; formerly the Théâtre de l'Odéon [teatʁ də lɔdeɔ̃], Music Hall) is one of France's six national theatres. It is located at 2 rue Corneille in the 6th arrondissement of Paris on the left bank of the Seine, next to the Luxembourg Garden and the Luxembourg Palace, which houses the Senate.

First theatre

The original building, the Salle du Faubourg Saint-Germain, was constructed for the Théâtre Français between 1779 and 1782 to a Neoclassical design by Charles De Wailly and Marie-Joseph Peyre. The site was in the garden of the former Hôtel de Condé. The new theatre was inaugurated by Marie-Antoinette on April 9, 1782. It was there that Beaumarchais' play The Marriage of Figaro was premiered two years later. On April 27, 1791, during the Revolution, the company split. The players sympathetic to the crown remained in the theatre in the Faubourg Saint-Germain. They were arrested and incarcerated on the night of September 3, 1793, but were allowed to return a year later. In 1797, the theater was remodeled by the architect Jean-François Leclerc and became known as the Odéon, but it was destroyed by a fire on March 18, 1799.^[1][2]

Second theatre

An 1808 reconstruction of the theater designed by Jean Chalgrin (architect of the Arc de Triomphe) was officially named the Théâtre de l'Impératrice, but everyone still called it the Odéon.^[3] It burned down in 1818.

Third theatre

The third and present structure, designed by Pierre Thomas Baraguay, was opened in September 1819. In 1990, the theater was given the sobriquet 'Théâtre de l'Europe'. It is a member theater of the Union of the Theatres of Europe.

Eugène Grasset poster, 1890

Access

___	Located near the Métro station: Odéon.

The Line 4 and Line 10 serves Odéon station.

See also

• Hôtel de Condé, previously on the same location

Notes

1. Wild 2012, pp. 98–100, 289–290; Carlson 1966, pp. 1–5 (The Marriage of Figaro).
2. Culture & History of Odéon Théâtre de l'Europe Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
3. Regarding the name Théâtre de l'Impératrice, see Hemmings 1994, p. 106.

Bibliography

• Carlson, Marvin (1966). The Theatre of the French Revolution. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. OCLC 331216, 559057440, 622637342.
• Hemmings, F. W. J. (1994). Theatre and State in France, 1760–1905. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-03472-2 (2006 reprint).
• Wild, Nicole (2012). Dictionnaire des théâtres parisiens (1807–1914). Lyon: Symétrie. ISBN 9782914373487. OCLC 826926792.

External links

• Official website