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MUS 323/523 Opera History 19th Century French Opera Years of the French Revolution: Some works were deliberately designed as Revolutionary Propaganda, depicting battle events, martyrs, etc. There was still rivalry between Paris Opéra and Opéra Comique; romantic elements were added, but rescue opera emphasized liberation themes that resonated with Revolution After the Revolution many composers visited Paris from Italy and Germany; result was Paris collected ideas from around Europe, assimilated into international style Serious opera evolved in 1820’s into Grand Opera: definition: o Commissioned between 1828-1870 by Académie Royal de Musique (Paris Opéra) o Story was religious or romantic, involving heroic feats, grand passions, great suffering o Lots of spectacle: huge crowd scenes for weddings, processions, wars, coronations, miraculous events, sometimes in exotic locations o Grand opera was government funded, with the primary audience the Bourgeoisie. Govt. was picky about stories: stories were chosen for their ability to mold public opinion, reinforce Bourgeois values (as long as not critical of French regime: propaganda) Early example: Auber (1782-1871), La Muette de Portici Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) is most famous composer of French grand opera o His operas were extremely popular then, not usually done today. This could be said of most French Grand Opera, because: Extreme length Scenery demands, crowd scenes French Style of singing isn’t taught widely anymore (Italian and German styles are more common) Wagner didn’t like Meyerbeer on grounds of anti-Semitism and that his international style was perceived as working against German Nationalism; this despite Meyerbeer’s influence on Wagner o One of Meyerbeer’s best-known operas is L’Africaine (1865). Good example of an opera on exotic theme; also has more progressive harmony than was common in mid-19th century; very lyrical, very far removed from da capo format Hector Berlioz (1803-69) another composer of French Grand Opera o Wrote 3 true operas: Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens, Beatrice and Benedict. Les Troyens is in epic proportions, based on Virgil’s Aeneid. Infrequently performed for same reasons as other grand operas: too expensive, singing demands are extraordinary Many other examples from mid and late century, many sub-genres: o Jacques Offenbach (1819-80) wrote operas in style called opéra bouffé: blend of music, dance, spoken dialogue. An example is Orphee aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld). A true opera by him is Tales of Hoffmann (Contes d’Hoffmann) o Charles Gounod (1818-93) wrote operas very popular at the time, hardly ever performed now. One famous was Romeo et Juliette Late century and Georges Bizet (1838-75) o Orientalism becomes strong theme in France, leads to more exotic locations in plots, e.g.: his opera Les Pecheurs de Perles (1863) was set in Ceylon. o Carmen (1875): another exotic story. Premiered just before his death This is Bizet’s most famous opera, with very familiar music Bizet was influenced by Wagner and Verdi: Wagner’s notion of the complete art work, using theater used to explore the human condition; and also Leitmotifs Verdi’s tunefulness and psychological exploration Contains similarities to Verismo