Archival Sources for the Opera-Comique and Its "Registres" at the Bibliotheque de l'Opera

Abstract

The history of nineteenth-century French opera is dominated by the important works performed at the two principal lyric theaters in Paris. In some respects less tradition-bound than the Op6ra, where the grandiose was highly prized, the Op6ra-Comique presented its audience with a larger repertoire displaying a wide variety of subjects and styles. The organization and management of the Op6ra-Comique, too, permitted rapid responses to changing dramatic and musical tastes. The theater staged not just witty, frankly comic works: authors often used the genre as a vehicle for satire and social drama. It was not enough merely to entertain: the form served to promote certain ideals and/or to attack abuses. Its leading composers did not hesitate to experiment with accepted procedures to gain theatrical impact. During the Revolution, the achievements of M6hul, Cherubini, and their contemporaries, especially in the areas of formal organization and orchestration, proved fundamental to the growth of Romantic opera in France and Germany, while Massenet's influence on French melodic style lasted well into this century. This is to cite but two examples of the importance of the nineteenth-century Op6raComique repertoire beyond the confines of the genre itself. Certainly no history of French opera can ignore its best works, which include significant examples by Boieldieu, Auber, Hal6vy, and Bizet. Such a study must take into account not only the scores themselves but also the theatrical and social milieu for which they were created.

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