 It was originally a market and was later converted to a boxing arena, before becoming the orchestra's principle symphonic residence.Plasson's flamboyant personality, his insistence on playing and recording the French repertoire (especially rarely played pieces), and his record deal with EMI, combined to make the orchestra the "reference" French orchestra, the most visible and most visibly French, with approximately one hundred records released.He also created a fundraising group called 'Aida', which has many large business donors, most notably Airbus, as well as banks.