Nineteenth Century Opera in France.

At the beginning of the ninetheenth century in France, a taste for the Italian Bel Canto was very much in the air, especially after the arrival of Giachino Rossini in Paris. Indeed, his Guilliaume Tell helped found the new genre of Grand Opéra. This was characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras together with luxurious and spectacular design and stage-effects. Plots were based on or around dramatic historic events.

A salient feature of Grand Opéra as it developed in Paris was that of a lavish ballet. Its inclusion was principally to satisfy the demands of the wealthy and aristocratic patrons who, it seems, were initially more interested in the dancers themselves than the actual opera. It became an important element in the social prestige of the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, also known as the Paris Opéra or, simply, the Opéra.

Giacomo Meyerbeer is considered to be the first great exponent of Grand Opéra, although some critics argue that Esprit Auber with his La Muette de Portici (1828) should hold this honour.

It was the French composer Charles-François Gounod who heralded in the era of Post-Romanticism. Its primary emphasis on the expression of emotion and its focus on the beauty of sensuality come together in Juliette's aria, Ah! Je veux vivre from his five-act opera Roméo et Juliette (1867).

Jacques Offenbach was one of the orginiators of the operetta form. It is a genre of light opera, where the adjective refers both to the undemanding music and subject matter. La Belle Hélène (1864) is one of the earliest, most successful examples. Offenbach's one fully operatic masterpiece, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (1880-unfinished), composed at the end of his career, has become the most familiar of Offenbach's works in major opera houses.

Realism and Naturalism are characterised in the works of Georges Bizet. He is best known for his final opera, Carmen (1875). It is set in Seville, Spain, c. 1830, and concerns the eponymous Carmen, a beautiful gypsy with a fiery temper. Free with her love, she woos the corporal Don José whose moral decline from simple honesty through to insubordination, desertion, smuggling and murder is directly linked to their relationship. Initially condemned for its "obscene" libretto, this work is now considered as a "supreme acheivement" of ópera comique which Bizet transformed and extended to include "passionate emotion" and a tragic end.

Gustave Charpentier (1860-1956) also exploited the theme of realism. His most famous work, Louise (1900) depicts Parisian working-class life. It tells the story of the love between Louise, a seamstress living with her parents in Paris, and Julien, a young artist and focuses on the young girl's desire for freedom.

Finally, reference should also be made to Claude Debussy (1862-1918). His work reflected the activities or turbulence in his own life. His music virtually defines the transition from late-Romantic music to twentieth century modernist music. In French literary circles, the style of this period was known as Symbolism, a movement that directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant. We shall consider Debussy's opera, Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), in our section on C20th opera.

Sources:

Delgado Cabrera, A. El Siglo XIX. Iniciación a la Ópera. 2008-2009. Talleres y Cursos de Cultura. ULPGC.
http://www.musica.co.uk/composers/Bizet.htm
http://www.musica.co.uk/composers/Debussy.htm
http://www.musica.co.uk/composers/Offenbach.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_opera
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Charpentier

Image: In the Loge by Mary Cassatt.