The Teatro Municipal, National Opera of Chile is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile. The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 1848, and an 1853 decree by President Manuel Montt Torres provided for the construction of a municipal theater in his nation's capital, by then a rapidly growing city. French Chilean architect Claudio Brunet des Baines was commissioned for its design, and its construction was entrusted to another French Chilean, civil engineer Felipe Charme de l´Isle. Brunet des Baines created a French Neoclassical exterior for the theater, though his 1855 death left the supervision of the design to his countryman, Lucien Henault, and to the latter's assistant, Manuel Aldunate. The new team also benefited from a collaboration with Charles Garnier, the architect of the Opéra National de Paris. The Teatro Municipal was inaugurated on September 17, 1857, with the opera "Ernani" by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by an Italian company brought in specially for the occasion. At the time, the theatre held 1,800 spectators, and included distinctive interior details such as a teardrop crystal chandelier. A December 8, 1870, performance by opera diva Carlotta Patti was followed by a massive fire, which practically destroyed the building. A quick response by both the local government and Chilean high society resulted in the theatre's prompt reconstruction, designed by Henault and completed on July 16, 1873. Its reinauguration was accompanied by a performance of Verdi's "La forza del destino".