“La Magie Opéra”: an experience to discover lyrical art in virtual reality at the Palais Garnier in Paris

In the maze of the Palais Garnier in Paris, amidst moldings, marble, and gilding, a gray room with its technological equipment stands out. Its occupants are just as disconcerting: virtual reality (VR) headsets strapped to their heads, the small group of about ten people gropes their way forward, single file, in a large square marked on the floor.

They are participating in La Magie Opéra , the first virtual reality experience organized within the building, from May 7th to August 31st. For twenty-five minutes, participants follow Céleste, a (virtual) singer in torment. The young mixed-race woman with long brown hair is about to play the character of Carmen in the eponymous play, on the stage of the Opéra Garnier. The problem is, she finds herself seized by panic when she steps onto the stage, worried about losing the meaning of her life once this dream comes true.

Then begins a musical journey between the different roles of his career, in spectacular settings. The first scene takes place at the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by seaweed and fish, to the famous aria of Song to the Moon , from the opera Rusalka (1901), the major work of composer Antonin Dvorak. The second takes place in a palace in Rome, on the theme Vissi d'arte from Tosca (1900), Giacomo Puccini's opera. We witness the quarrel between the heroine of the same name and the perfidious Scarpia. Finally, after a passage in a deconstructed Palais Garnier, in a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, we end the experience on the stage of the Opéra Garnier where Céleste performs La Habanera , an aria taken from Carmen (1875), by Georges Bizet, in front of a packed house.

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