2007 – Vacheron Constantin and the Opéra National de Paris celebrated two major events

France - Paris - Wednesday, 24 October, Vacheron Constantin and the Opéra National de Paris celebrated two major Parisian events: the opening night of Tosca, in front of numerous VIP personalities and guests, and the inauguration of a monumental clock in the atrium of the Opéra Bastille.

 

At the Opéra Bastille, in the presence of Mr Gerard Mortier, Director of the Opéra National de Paris, MrJuan-Carlos Torres, CEO of Vacheron Constantin, and Mr Jean-Yves di Martino, the company’s Director in France, Vacheron Constantin, the world’s oldest watch manufacturer and sponsor of the Opéra National de Paris, welcomed 280 guests to the opening night of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, performed under the musical direction of Nicola Luisotti and directed by Werner Schroeter.

 

Among the guests were Isabelle Carré, ambassadress of the “Vaincre la mucoviscidose” association with its president, Jean Lafond, François Cluzet, Ulrich Lehner, Switzerland’s ambassador to France and his wife, Carole Bouquet, Laurent Gerra, Nelson Montfort, Gérard Holtz, Emmanuel de Brantes and his wife, Stéphane Bern, Ariane Massenet and his sister Béatrice.

 

During the first intermission, Messrs Torres and Mortier inaugurated the monumental clock, Laudator Temporis, a gift from Vacheron Constantin to the Opéra National de Paris. Placed at the entrance to the Opéra Bastille and designed by the Neuchâtel artist-painter Ivan Moscatelli, it comprises 56 mouth-blown stained-glass windows and was made by the master glass-blower Werner Weyhe, from Lausanne. It is a highly coloured map of the world with clocks displaying the time in 10 major cities: Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Moscow, Peking, Rio de Janeiro, etc ... with automatic, radio-synchronised changing of the time zones, reflecting Vacheron Constantin’s international status.

 

After the performance, the guests were invited to the top floor of the Opéra Bastille for a private reception, during which they were able to admire the precious timepieces in Vacheron Constantin’s Patrimony collection.

 

 

Photo-captions:

- Private reception Vacheron Constantin at the Opéra Bastille

- During the first intermission, Juan-Carlos Torres, CEO of Vacheron Constantin, and Gerard Mortier, Director of the Opéra National de Paris, inaugurated the Laudator Temporis clock installed at the entrance to the Opéra Bastille

- Left to right: Juan-Carlos Torres with those who performed Tosca: Franck Ferrari, baritone, Vladimir Galouzine, tenor, Werner Schroeter, the director, Gerard Mortie, and Catherine Naglestad, soprano

- Valérie Boneton, François Cluzet, Gerard Mortier, Jean Lafond, Isabelle Carré and Juan-Carlos Torres

- Juan-Carlos Torres, Nelson Montfort and his wife, and Gérard Holtz

- Juan-Carlos Torres and François Cluzet

- Stéphane Bern and and Irène Frain

- Laurent Gerra and Arnaud Delbarre