Grand Théâtre de Genève

About this audio guide

This guide to the Grand Theatre de Geneve traces the square beneath your feet back to Geneva's old moat, drained in the 1850s to make way for the theatre that opened here in 1879. It then turns to a single moment on the first of May 1951, when a rehearsal of Wagner's Die Walkure went wrong and fire tore through the stage and auditorium while the city's ladders sat elsewhere being repaired. You'll hear how firefighters fought it seat by seat, and what survived when the smoke cleared. Look up at the ceiling once you're inside, and consider what Geneva argued over before rebuilding began.