Djouwez, dansez èt tchantez chal, Lîdje fêt l’ fièsse sins låker
Play, dance and sing, friend, Liege celebrates without weakening
The Opéra Royal de Wallonie, one of Belgium’s finest stages, is housed in a building that dates back to the 18th century. When it was built between 1818 and 1820, stones from buildings demolished during the Revolution were reused. According to tradition, the columns adorning the façade were taken from the church of the Carthusian monks. In front of this magnificent façade stands a statue of Grétry, a famous composer who was born in Liège in 1741. Despite spending his entire career in Paris, where he was the music master to Queen Marie-Antoinette, Grétry requested that his heart be returned to his hometown after his death. It is kept in the urn visible in the statue’s plinth.
Walloon may well be the language of the people, but that does not mean it is just another dialect. In the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, various authors gave the Walloon language its rightful place. From the end of the 19th century, numerous Walloon plays were performed in this theatre. The 200th performance of ‘Tåtî l’ pèrikî’ (in French: “Gauthier le perruquier”) took place here on 4 May 1890. This play by Édouard Remouchamps is considered a great classic of Walloon literature.