What they said about the Paris Opera...
Politicians, artists, writers, economists and civil servants have - throughout its history - been inspired to make colourful comments about the Paris Opera...
Opera helps a great number of families to live and fine arts to flourish. 
Hébert, 1791
This spectacle (the Opera), unique in Europe by its bringing together of art and talent, gives an often useful boost to the fashion trade and to manufacturers of luxury goods, attracts and retains huge crowds in Paris, adds to the lustre of this great city, and suits the character, the flair and the taste of the nation. Chaptal, 1801
At the opera you have to throw money out of the window to have it come back in by
the door. Napoleon, 1807
Either Paris, the capital city of France, has an opera that befits a great cultural country, in which case it is necessary to put the proper price on it, or it is pointless to spend money, in very large amounts, to achieve a mediocre result. The government went for the first alternative! J. Duhamel, 1970, reported by M. Landowski
Must Paris have an Opera the same as every capital city has a Zoo? Bloch Lainé Report, 1977
