The 2024 Paris Olympics got off to a spectacular start with the Opening Ceremony, featuring the sights and sounds of French national treasures, from the Seine and the Eiffel Tower to the country’s rich heritage of classical music. Here are some of the selections played during the Opening Ceremony.
Eugène Delacroix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Eugène Delacroix, La Liberté guidant le people, 1830. The embodiment of Liberty, personified in the French allegorical figure of “Marianne,” leads the French battalion onward in a representation of the Revolution of 1830.
Victor le Masne, the official composer for these Olympic games, produced a thrilling atmospheric score; his music was the backdrop for the journey of the Olympic torch through the sewers and catacombs. The masked torchbearer then transported the flame to the strains of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera and crashed a production of Les Misérables.
As the boat parade of athletes drifted by on the Seine, a synth version of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” was a fitting choice to accompany the refugee athletes.
Dvořák: The Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"
Mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti delivered an unforgettable performance of the “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen as she floated by.
Georges Bizet: "Habanera" from Carmen
The sounds of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre and Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun echoed as the boat parade continued.
Camille Saint-Saëns: “Danse macabre”
Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
As the rain drenched Paris, French pianist Alexandre Kantorow gave an exquisite performance of Ravel’s “Jeux d’eau” (Water Games).
Ravel: Jeux d’eau
In addition to Jeux d’eau, Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major also made an appearance, followed by Satie’s meditative Gymnopédie No. 1. Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice then accompanied the torchbearer as he parkoured his way across the city’s rooftops.
French soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel, clad in an 8-meter-long dress by Dior Haute Couture, embodied Marianne herself as she belted le Masne’s new arrangement of “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem, from atop the Grand Palais.
La Marseillaise
A magnificent iron horse carrying the masked rider sped the Olympic flag down the Seine. The torch finally made its way to the Trocadéro as the Olympic Hymn rang out. The Hymn, a choral cantata by Greek composer Spyridon Samaras, was performed at the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens. Every host nation has commissioned its own version to be performed at the Opening Ceremony since then.
The Olympic Hymn
