Théâtre Feydeau

The company was founded on 26 January 1789 by Marie-Antoinette's coiffeur Léonard-Alexis Autier and the violinist and composer Giovanni Battista Viotti and at first used the Salle des Tuileries,[4] which had previously been the Salle des Machines, but had been greatly modified and reduced in size by the architects Jacques-Germain Soufflot and Ange-Jacques Gabriel for the Paris Opera in 1763.

[6] On 6 October 1789 Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette moved to the Tuileries Palace after being forced to leave Versailles for Paris by rioters.

It was decided that the Théâtre de Monsieur would have to find new quarters, and that a new theatre would be built, but in the interim, the company would perform in the Salle des Variétés at the Saint-Germain Fair.

[7] Piccini's La buona figliuola was warmly received on 3 February 1790 with the composer conducting, but Pasquale Anfossi's I viaggiatori felici was less highly regarded, on account of both its music and its libretto, with the exception of inserted numbers composed by Cherubini, who took a bow at the insistence of the audience.

The sixteen-year-old violinist Pierre Rode played a concerto by Viotti between the acts of Giuseppe Sarti's Le gelosie villane on 18 October.

[8] For the new theatre, a site just east of the north end of the Tuileries Palace, formerly occupied by the "Stables of Monsieur", was first considered.

This location was thought advantageous, even at this late date, because the royal family could reach it without having to go out-of-doors.

Despite its proximity to the Salle Favart, home of the Opéra-Comique, and objections by Jean Sylvain Bailly, the mayor of Paris, permission was granted in April.

[10] The opening there took place on 6 January 1791, when Sarti's 3-act comic opera Le nozze di Dorina was presented.

[2][13][14] Up to 1791 the repertory had consisted primarily of Italian opera, with additional music added by Cherubini, but the exclusive privileges of the royal theatres were revoked on 13 January 1791.

This was followed by more French operas by Cherubini, as well as operas by French composers, including Devienne's Les visitandines (7 July 1792);[16] Le Sueur's La caverne (16 February 1793), Paul et Virginie (13 January 1794), and Télémaque (10 May 1796);[17] and Gaveaux's Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal (19 February 1798).