The Salle Garnier opened in 1879, built into the seaward side of the Garnier building and designed by the same architect. It seats only a few hundred, which is why it sounds the way it does.
For a house this size the record is remarkable: several Massenet operas had their first performances here, and Diaghilev's Ballets Russes were effectively based in Monaco for years, which is how a principality of a few thousand people ended up at the centre of twentieth-century dance.
The interior is full-blown Second Empire — gilt, red plush, caryatids and a painted ceiling — and it is best seen from a seat.
Tickets for a concert in a house this small are the best way in, and it is a genuinely different experience from a large opera house.
Opéra de Monte-Carlo in pictures
