Opéra de Dijon

The Opéra de Dijon is an opera company and arts organization in Dijon, France. It administers both the Grand Théâtre de Dijon and the Auditorium de Dijon which are its main performance venues. In addition to operas, the organization also stages ballets and classical music concerts.

Opera had been performed in Dijon by travelling opera troupes from the 17th century, although the city did not have its own theatre. The performances were given in privately owned and often ramshackle gambling dens and jeu de paume courts known as tripots. In 1717, the city acquired one of them (the tripot des Barres) with the intention of creating a municipal performing venue. The Salle de Comédie, as it was called by 1743, remained Dijon's main theatrical venue until 1828, with seating only installed in 1817. Prior to that, the audience had watched the performances standing up.

The Dijon architect Jacques Cellerier first proposed the construction of a new theatre to replace the Salle de Comédie in 1787. The demolition of the Sainte-Chapelle church and its cloister in 1802 freed up land in the city centre and plans began in earnest for a purpose-built municipal theatre and opera house. Cellerier formally submitted his plans in 1803. The first stone was laid in 1810, but construction was halted between 1814 an 1823. The building was finally completed in 1828 and inaugurated as the Grand Théâtre de Dijon.

The Grand Théâtre (also referred to in the past as the "Opéra de Dijon") remained the city's only opera house until the end of the 20th century. Its last two General Directors were Guy Grinda (1966 to 1978) and Pierre Filippi (1978 to 2002). A second and larger municipal auditorium and concert hall was constructed in 1998, and in 2001 a new organization called Duo Dijon was set up to administer both the Grand Théâtre and the Auditorium and to become a production company in its own right rather than relying on touring productions and performers. Its first General Director was Olivier Desbordes who held the post until 2007. In 2008, under the directorship Laurent Joyeux, the organization's name was officially changed to Opéra de Dijon.

Grand Théâtre de Dijon

The Grand Théâtre de Dijon is located at the Place du Théâtre. It was inaugurated on 4 November 1828 with the play Les deguisements, ou une folie des grands hommes, especially written for the occasion by the Dijon-born poet Charles Brifaut. The theatre was designed by Jacques Cellerier (1742–1814) and Simon Vallot (1774–1850) in the Neo-classical style with an interior modelled after of those of Italian opera houses. In 1975 its exterior was declared a monument historique of France. The theatre's last major restoration was in 2005, and it now has a seating capacity of 692.

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