Salle du Bel-Air

The Salle du Bel-Air[2] (French pronunciation: [sal dy bɛlɛʁ]) or Salle du Jeu de Paume de Béquet ([sal dy ʒø də pom də bekɛ], Hall of the Béquet Tennis Court), also spelled Becquet,[3] was a 1672 theatre located in Paris, France.

Originally an indoor tennis court (jeu de paume) it was converted by the Italian designer Carlo Vigarani into a theatre which was used by Jean-Baptiste Lully's Paris Opera from 15 November 1672 to 1 February 1673.

[5] Pierre Perrin, a poet and librettist, was given a monopoly to found an Academy of Opera in Music and French Verse on 28 June 1669.

The conversion to a theatre was well advanced (an amphithéâtre,[7] boxes, and stage machinery had already been installed), when they were evicted for their failure to obtain proper authorisation from the police.

Unable to use the Salle de la Bouteille, since Sourdéac and Champeron still held the lease, Lully requested permission to use the Great Hall in the Louvre Palace on 3 June 1672.