15, avenue
Montaigne - 75008 Paris - 01 49 52 50 50
Here, on 29 may 1913, the
Ballets
Russes of Sergei Diaghilev first performed to the music of the
Stravinsky piece le Sacre du Printemps. Riots followed the performance
which was shocking in its originality and modernity. Diaghilev,
Stravinsky, Nijinsky, and Cocteau fled the mobs for the Bois de
Boulogne and drove around while Diaghilev wept. Inaugurated in 1913,
the theater was one of the first buildings of reinforced concrete in
Paris. It was designed by Auguste Perret, who was later hired to
reconstruct the entire port city od le Havre after World War II. Today
it is the city's most celebrated classical music venue. It also hosts
opera and dance performances. North american footnotes : on 2 october
1925, la Revue Negre opened here, John Dos Passos painted the
show's stage set, Sidney Bechet played clarinet, and Josephine Baker
danced "Yes, Sir, that's my baby". In May 1927 a Charles Lindbergh
autograph sold for 1500 dollars at an auction held at the theater. The
name of his plane, The Spirit of St Louis, pleased the french, who
associated is not with Missouri but with the saintliest of their line
of kings. And on 16 april 1928, the Gershwins attended the opening of a
performance of la Rhapsodie in Blue by the Ballets russes.
At the top of Theatre des Champs Elysées, there is an excellent
trendy restaurant : la Maison Blanche.
