"Hôtel de Guénégaud (theatre)" redirects here. For other uses, see Hôtel de Guénégaud.
Plaque at the intersection of the rue Jacques-Callot and the rue Mazarine: "Here was erected the Salle du Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille, where the first opera of Paris opened on 16 [sic] March 1671."[1]Future location of the Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille marked in blue on the map of Gomboust (1652)Presumed plan of the theatre near the Passage du Pont-Neuf (1886)[2]
The Salle de la Bouteille[3]orSalle du Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille, later known as the Hôtel [de] GuénégaudorGuénégaud Theatre,[4] was a 1671 theatre located in Paris, France, between the rue de Seine and the rue des Fossés de Nesle (now 42 rue Mazarine, at its intersection with the rue Jacques Callot).[5] It was across from the rue Guénégaud, which ran behind the garden of a townhouse formerly known as the Hôtel de Guénégaud on the quai de Nevers. The theatre was the first home of the Paris Opera and in 1680 became the first theatre of the Comédie-Française. It closed in 1689 and was later partially demolished and remodeled for other purposes.
Originally a tennis court (jeu de paume) that was converted into a theatre, it was inaugurated in 1671 as the first home of Pierre Perrin's Académie d'Opéra (see Paris Opera). The first French opera, Robert Cambert's Pomone with a libretto by Perrin, premiered there on 3 March of that year.[6] A second lyric work, Les peines et les plaisirs de l'amour, with a libretto by Gabriel Gilbert and music by Cambert, was performed in 1672.[7] On 13 March 1672 the surintendant of the king's music, Jean-Baptiste Lully, acquired Perrin's rights to perform opera and named his company the Académie Royale de Musique, although it also continued to be called the Opéra. Because of legal difficulties Lully could not use the Salle de la Bouteille, and moved the Opéra to a theatre built by Carlo Vigarani in the Bel-Air tennis court on the Rue de Vaugirard.[7]
In 1673, after the death of Molière, the Salle de la Bouteille became the home of the Guénégaud Theatre, a company formed from the remnants of the troupe of Molière and players from the Théâtre du Marais.[8]
In 1680, after merging with the troupe from the Hôtel de Bourgogne, the company became known as the Comédie-Française and continued to perform in the Guénégaud until 1689, when it moved to the Jeu de Paume de l'Étoile on the rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés (the southeastward extension of the rue des Fossés de Nesle), today known as the rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie [fr].[9][10]
^Clarke 1998, pp. 13–14. Clarke refers to the theatre as the Hôtel Guénégaud, with the particule "de" omitted, and states this form is particularly prevalent in the more recent literature; Forman 2010, p. 127, uses the name Théâtre de Guénégaud; Wiley 1960, p. 320, indexes it under "Guénégaud, Hôtel (Théâtre) de"; Lecomte 1905, p. 33, uses "Hôtel Guénégaud (théâtre de l')".
Chappuzeau, Samuel (1674). Le théâtre français, edited by G. Monval. Paris: Bonnassies, 1875.
Clarke, Jan (1998). The Guénégaud Theatre in Paris (1673–1680). Volume One: Founding, Design and Production. Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN9780773483927.
Forman, Edward (2010). Historical Dictionary of French Theater. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN9780810849396.
Howarth, William D., ed. (1997). French Theatre in the Neo-Classical Era 1550–1789. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521100878 (digital reprint, 2008).
Nuitter, Charles; Thoinan, Ernest (1886). Les Origines de l'Opéra français (in French). Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie. Copies 1 and 2atGoogle Books.
Powell, John S. (2000). Music and Theatre in France 1600–1680. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780198165996.
Sadler, Graham (2001). "Robert Cambert", p. 150, in The New Penguin Opera Guide, edited by Amanda Holden. New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN9780140514759.
Wiley, W. L. (1960). The Early Public Theatre in France. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. OCLC331219. Greenwood Press reprint (1973): ISBN9780837164496.
