La Magie Opéra
, Palais Garnier, Bibliothèque-musée de l’Opéra, Place de l'Opéra, 75009 Paris
In May 2025, La Magie Opéra debuts at the Palais Garnier in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the iconic Parisian opera house. This immersive, multi-user, geolocated experience plunges visitors into dreamlike scenes inspired by legendary operas, as well as the Palais Garnier's emblematic venues. Thanks to the power of immersive technology, the 25-minute VR experience dissolves the traditional boundaries of opera, broadening access to this art form to a wider audience and paying tribute to the operatic repertoire.
La Magie Opéra offers visitors an immersive, sensory musical adventure that follows the story's protagonist, a young singer named Céleste, as she explores the opera house, blurring the boundaries between reality, imagination and memory. Throughout Céleste's surreal journey, visitors are immersed in spectacular tableaux inspired by such major works of the operatic repertoire as Dvořák's Rusalka, Puccini's Tosca, and Bizet's Carmen.
Based on an original concept by BackLight, the Paris-based production studio at the cutting edge of virtual reality, and made possible by HTC's VIVE Focus 3 headsets, the narrative odyssey traverses the halls of the emblematic Palais Garnier, looking back at its rich history while also looking to the future of the operatic art form. Travelling alongside Céleste, visitors will rediscover the ‘Song to the Moon’ from Rusalka, performed by Renée Fleming, ‘Vissi d'arte’ from Tosca by Martina Serafin (based on a 2014 Paris Opera production), and the ‘Habanera’ from Carmen by Elīna Garanča (recorded in 2017 at the Paris Opera).
Produced by BackLight, La Magie Opéra is a co-production with the Paris Opera, the French institution renowned for the diversity and quality of its opera and ballet programming, and VIVE Arts. On view at the Palais Garnier from May 7 through August 31, 2025, La Magie Opéra marks the launch of an ongoing partnership between VIVE Arts and Paris Opera, details about which will be announced over the coming months.
Credits & copyright as applicable:
Produced by Backlight, with the Paris Opera and VIVE Arts as coproducers, based on an original concept by BackLight, directed by Jonathan Astruc; Written by Karen Hunt and Eric Barbedor.