Opéra National de Lyon — Attraction in Lyon

Disappointing experience of the building – feels like a metro station in a rush hour: cramped spaces, construction site-like wobbly metal perforated staircases, poorly functioning cloakroom that stops accepting coats 15 mins before the show with 2 persons serving the 1300 seats house, people with coats in their laps, tiny hard seats almost like at a train station waiting room. And after the end of a show you follow the internal stairs and suddenly find yourself on a street like in a typical cinema. Rush-hour vibe, not a comfortable experience that allows to fully enjoy the music. Go to see performance if you can, but be ready for confusions, tortures and queues delivered by the architecture...

The theatre is so small for opera and felt very claustrophobic as soon as the doors were closed. As soon as you arrive you are confronted by escalators and it feels as if you arrived in a railway station or an airport. So unwelcoming. The seats were hard and uncomfortable and the orchestra was so muted as if someone had thrown a blanket over them. Then so many people in the audience coughing coughing and coughing a bit more... the coughs were louder than the music.... it really ruined the performance for me...

I've never been inside just passing by and had a really good look. Visually impressive and yet from the distance, without seeing the entire building, it looks like a trainshed with its rounded glass dome! What really intrigues me is that on close observation, there are only eight muses! Scandale épouvantable! Poor Uranie, the 9th muse was removed for the building's symmetry sake! Still a stunning building to look at and it's right opposite...