Hyacinthe Olivier Henry Halanzier-Dufresnoy grew up in the theatre world with a mother, Mademoiselle Dufrénoy, being an actress at the Odéon Theatre, then manager of a regional theatre company. Halanzier-Dufresnoy started his career as a notary, and then was director of several regional theatres. He then became Director of the Strasburg Theatre in 1848. He was successively nominated in Lyon, Rouen and finally at the Marseille Opera as Artistic Director. In 1871, after the Siège of Paris and the Paris Commune, he was appointed Director of the National Academy of Music until 1879. He presented works like The King in Thule, by Eugène Diaz, The Slave, by Edmond Membrée, Erostrate, by Ernest Reyer and L'Africaine, by Meyerbeer. In 1873 the Salle Le Peletier was destroyed by fire. The new theatre, the Palais Garnier, was inaugurated on January 5, 1875, a new opera house that soon became the jewel of Hausmannian style. The opening gala program included arias from La Juive, the very first notes that were heard in this new lyric art temple, along with Les Huguenots and Prophète (Meyerbeer), Der Freischütz (Weber), and a new ballet production, Sylvia ou La Nymphe de Diane (Mérante).