On my continuing enjoyment of showcasing the best of architecture and history of my belle France. I bring you back to Nantes. The city is very well known to me as go there often and left many times on my trips from its airport. Nantes is in old Bretagne now part of the region of Pays de la Loire in dept 44 Loire-Atlantique. Do read my other post on the theater in my blog, Let me tell you a bit more of its wonderful Théâtre Graslin of Nantes ,part I !! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The Graslin theater is the opera house built at the end of the 18C. It is located on Place Graslin, between the streets of rue Molière, rue Scribe and rue Corneille. The hall has a capacity of 784 seats. It is, with the Grand Théâtre d’Angers, one of the two places of residence of the Angers-Nantes Opéra joint syndicate. It is an imposing building on a wonderful square, nice walks around here with beautiful architecture.
A bit of history I like tell us that in Nantes there was a tradition of theater and opera; the first works of this kind are presented in the city in 1687. The most famous room in the 18C was the “Théâtre des Variétés”, located in rue Bignon-Lestard (today rue Rubens). But this room is considered too small, and the Academy of Music, founded in 1727, does not have a suitable place to give concerts. At the end of the 1770s, Jean-Joseph-Louis Graslin, general receiver of the king’s farms in Nantes for about ten years, decided to finance a large-scale private real estate operation, for a speculative purpose. He bought agricultural land, the “Bouvet ” and the “La Cagassais “, in order to build mansions and houses for the purpose of reselling them in a speculative manner. A theater, the hotel des Fermes, a museum, a Hôtel, a new church Saint-Nicolas, and the Stock Exchange. However, the clergy opposed the construction of a theater near a place of worship. Only winners came of this effort was to get the construction, on the esplanade that will take the name of Place Graslin, the Hotel de France, and the opening of a prestigious auditorium. The attraction of it was enough to move the center of gravity of the city towards the new district centered around a Grand Theater.
The model in vogue at the time when these plans were conceived is that of the Opéra of Lyon, built between 1753 and 1756. This model does not have a direct influence on the work of Nantes. It took over Graslin’s conception, in 1780, other new halls mark this period: the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, inaugurated that year; the Odeon Theater, under construction, inaugurated in 1782; the launch of the Palais-Royal Theater, inaugurated in 1784; and finally the Besançon Theater, begun in 1778 and inaugurated in 1784. In 1783, Jean-Joseph-Louis Graslin had excavations and grading done to allow the foundations to be installed, anticipating the agreement of the city office and that of the Royal Academy of Architecture, which were obtained in September 1784. The construction agreement is given in February 1785. The expected duration of work is then 18 months; they will last four years. The building is ravaged by a fire on August 24, 1796 The fire takes place during a performance of Zémire and Azor, an opera by André Grétry.
In 1805, the School of Drawing, ancestor of the School of Fine Arts of Nantes, is housed there. In 1806, Napoleon I granted some French towns permission to maintain a permanent troop; Nantes is one of them. Following the Emperor’s visit of the city in 1808, the theater was rebuilt from 1811, and again inaugurated in 1813. The statues of the facade and the entrance hall between 1821 and 1829, On February 12, 1918, the Harlem Hellfighters orchestra of the 369th American Infantry Regiment under the direction of the arranger, composer and bandleader James Reese Europe, gives the first jazz concert on the European continent on steps then in the theater !!! The theater has a brief closure after the Nazis invasion of 1940. But the occupation authority said it wants to see the institution run again, and Graslin is back in business from January 1941.
A bit on the construction details I like tell us that twelve steps lead to the vestibule, while eight Corinthian columns support the pediment. The eight antique-style statues overlooking each column, representing eight of the nine muses, date from the time of reconstruction. The hall is decorated with two statues, representing Corneille and Molière, respectively to the left and to the right of the staircase of honor. On both sides of the hall, there are two low reliefs emblazoned with the coats of arms of Jean van Styrum, prefect of Loire-Inferieure, and Jean-Pierre Bachasson de Montalivet, Minister of the Interior. This heraldic decor, one of the only still in place dating from the First Empire, begins on the main facade with the imperial coat of arms of the City of Nantes and that of its mayor Jean-Baptiste Bertrand-Geslin. It’s an Italian-style theater inside a neoclassical building. The interior design is guided by considerations related to visibility and acoustics. Like most rooms of the time, that of Graslin is in the form of truncated oval
The Angers Nantes theaters group on the Graslin theater of Nantes:https://www.angers-nantes-opera.com/theatre-graslin-5ca0d940
The City of Nantes heritage site on the Théâtre Graslin : https://patrimonia.nantes.fr/home/decouvrir/themes-et-quartiers/theatre-graslin.html
The Nantes tourist office on the Graslin theater : https://www.levoyageanantes.fr/en/places/graslin-theatre/
There you go folks, arts culture and wonderful architecture in a great location. Again, hope you enjoy the Théâtre Graslin of Nantes , part I as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 