Two hundred years after the storming of the Bastille prison, a new "People's Opera" was unveiled this week on the historic site where the French Revolution began.
World leaders mingled with Paris high society at the gala inauguration of the controversial Opera Bastille, a mammoth space-age construction described by its designers as the world's most sophisticated temple of music.President Francois Mitterrand, flanked by 32 heads of state and government, joined 2,500 carefully screened guests at the concert, symbolically entitled "The Night Before the Day." The opening of the new Paris landmark began an all-night orgy of music and dancing in the streets to launch three days of bicentenary festivities.
"I am extremely honored to be here," said Placido Domingo, whose rich tenor soared through an opera house computer-designed to produce flawless acoustics. Teresa Berganza, Barbara Hendricks and June Anderson were also on hand for the inaugural recital, directed by Bob Wilson.
After a free July 14 concert the doors of the massive, high-tech opera are due to close until February 1990 for technical fine-tuning.