The Archives and The Library: Palais Garnier Emperor Napoleon III Eugène Scribe Daniel Auber

The Library-Museum is housed in the Palais Garnier in the Rotonde de l'Empereur, a pavilion on
the west side of the theatre, which was originally designed to be the private entrance for Emperor
Napoleon III. Thus, the Emperor's could directly enter in the building and avoid any assassination
attempt. The library is located near the intersection of the rue Scribe with the rue Auber, streets
which are named after the librettist Eugne Scribe and the composer Daniel Auber, both of whom
had works performed by the Paris Opera.[1]
After the Emperor's death in 1873 and the proclamation of the French Third Republicin
1870, President Mac-Mahon refused to use this Pavilion as a private space for the head of
state. Charles Nutters succeeded in compelling Charles Garnier in transforming the pavilion into
a space for the conservation of the Opera's books and archives.
The archives and the library[edit]

From the time of the creation of the Paris Opera in 1669 until the middle of the 19th century there
was no official entity in charge of the preservation and management of archival materials
produced by the activities of the Opera and its associated theatre. The creation of an archives
service and a library was integrated into the project entrusted to the architect Charles Garnier for
the construction of a new opera house to replace the Opera's former theatre, the Salle Le
Peletier. Thus the current Paris Opera Library-Museum traces its origin to two former services of
the Opera, the archives and the library, each created in 1866. [2] At that time, the Opera director
became an entrepreneur. Expenses exceeded the receipts, and the government needed a strong
man to run the establishment but was afraid that the archives would be sold to generate money.
Three rooms in the Bibliothque de l'Opra in the 19th century
Around 1863 Charles Nuitter had begun cataloging the Opera's archives, and on 15 May 1866
he became the official archivist. He also published several books on the history of the company.
[3]
Thodore Lajarte was appointed librarian in 1873 and embarked on the systematic
organization of the Opera's scores and instrumental parts. In 1876 he first published his twovolume inventory of the library's holdings covering the period from 1671 to 1876. [4]
The library (2012)

Entrance to an exhibition room
The archives and the library were soon merged, and in 1881 augmented with a museum open to
the public.[2] In 1899 Nuitter was succeeded by his assistant Charles Malherbe.[5] At first the
Opera Library-Museum was attached to the State Secretariat of the Fine Arts (Secrtariat d'tat
aux Beaux-Arts), but in 1935 it became part of the National Library and later became a part of the
National Library's Music Department, when that was created in 1942. [2]
The rooms of the library provide a comfortable environment for work and study, and the staff is
knowledgeable and helpful. Much of the library is little changed from its original appearance in
the 19th century. Access to the library may be difficult at times (the entrance is through the main
foyer of the opera house), and it is advisable to call ahead to confirm the hours when it is open. [6]
Nowadays, the Library conserves around 600,000 documents related to the history of the Opra
and the Opra-Comique, including about 100,000 books, 250,000 autograph letters, 16,000
scores, 30,000 libretti, 100,000 photographs, and 30,000 prints.
The museum[edit]
Muse de l'Opra (2011).
Dancer Alexandre Kalioujny by Jacques Gestalder
The modern museum has five rooms which display three centuries of the Paris Opera's history
through paintings, costumes, drawings of scenery, and scale models of set designs. [1] Altogether,
the museum conserves 8 500 objects.
At the top of the stairs which lead to the museum is a bronze by the sculptor Jacques Gestalder,
[fr]
which depicts the dancer Alexandre Kalioujny in mid-leap during a performance of Michel
Fokine's ballet Les danses polovtsiennes,[fr] which is based on the Polovtsian Dances of
Borodin's Prince Igor.[7]
Visitors are also able to see shelves of books and scores, which are protected by grilles. [7] These
materials include fifteen thousand scores and thirty thousand librettos [6] and are accessible to the
public on days when the museum is not open for tours. The museum's collections are too
extensive to be displayed all at one time, as they consist of approximately 8,500 objects,
including 2,500 models of sets, 500 set design drawings, and 3,000 pieces of costume jewelry.[7]
The Library-Museum has organized more than 25 exhibitions since 1992, in collaboration with
the BnF and others. Some of the items in the collection have also been displayed at the Muse
d'Orsay

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The Library-Museum is housed in the Palais Garnier in the Rotonde de l'Empereur, a pavilion on

The archives and the library[edit]

Three rooms in the Bibliothque de l'Opra in the 19th century

The library (2012)

Dancer Alexandre Kalioujny by Jacques Gestalder

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