The Toulon Opera House (Fr:
Le Grand Theâtre de Toulon) was one of a wave of lyric opera houses built in France and Europe in the middle of the 19th century, and it represented the exuberant style of the
Second Empire. Its construction began on 5 March 1860, two years before the start of construction of the Palais Garnier. The designer was Léon Feuchère, who had renovated the
Marseille Opera House and built the
opera house in Avignon. He died in 1857, and the work was finished by Paris architects Charpentier, pére et fils. The 15-meter canvas on the ceiling was painted and its plaster ornament designed by
Louis Duveau, who also created the ceiling of the Grand Salon of the Imperial Apartments in the Napoleon Wing of the
Louvre. The house was inaugurated on 1 October 1862, with
Les Mousquetaires de la reine, a comic opera by
Fromental Halévy, followed a few days later by
La Juive, Halévy's most famous opera. The opera house was the setting for the French film ''
(The Curse of Belphegor''), by
Georges Combret, in 1966. Past music directors of the company have included Giuliano Carella (2003–2018) and Jurjen Hempel (2018–2021). In June 2021, the company announced the appointments of Marzena Diakun and Valerio Galli as co-principal conductors of the company, effective 1 September 2021. ==References==