| In rivalry with imported Italian opera | | | | them with variable success. Perhaps the |
| productions, a separate French tradition | | | | most interesting response came from |
| was founded by the Italian Jean-Baptiste | | | | Claude Debussy. As in Wagner's works, |
| Lully at the court of King Louis XIV. | | | | the orchestra plays a leading role in |
| Despite his foreign origin, Lully | | | | Debussy's unique opera Pelléas et |
| established an Academy of Music and | | | | Mélisande (1902) and there are no |
| monopolised French opera from 1672. | | | | real arias, only recitative. But the |
| Starting with Cadmus et Hermione, Lully | | | | drama is understated, enigmatic and |
| and his librettist Quinault created | | | | completely unWagnerian. |
| tragédie en musique,a form in | | | | Other notable 20th century names include |
| which dance music and choral writing | | | | Ravel, Dukas, Roussel and Milhaud. |
| were particularly prominent. Lully's | | | | Francis Poulenc is one of the very few |
| operas also show a concern for | | | | post-war composers of any nationality |
| expressive recitative which matched the | | | | whose operas (which include Dialogues |
| contours of the French language. In the | | | | des carmélites)) have gained a |
| 18th century, Lully's most important | | | | foothold in the international repertory. |
| successor was Rameau, who composed five | | | | Olivier Messiaen's lengthy sacred drama |
| tragédies en musique as well as | | | | Saint François d'Assise (1983) |
| numerous works in other genres such as | | | | has also attracted widespread attention. |
| opera-ballet, all notable for their rich | | | | The early years of the twentieth century |
| orchestration and harmonic daring. After | | | | saw two more French operas which, though |
| Rameau's death, the German Gluck was | | | | not on the level of Debussy's |
| persuaded to produce six operas for the | | | | achievement, managed to absorb Wagnerian |
| Parisian stage in the 1770s. They show | | | | influences while retaining a sense of |
| the influence of Rameau, but simplified | | | | individuality. These were Gabriel |
| and with greater focus on the drama. At | | | | Fauré's austere Classical drama |
| the same time, by the middle of the 18th | | | | Pénélope (1913) and Paul |
| century another genre was gaining | | | | Dukas's colourful Symbolist drama, |
| popularity in France: opéra | | | | Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (1907). The more |
| comique. This was the equivalent of the | | | | frivolous genres of operetta and |
| German singspiel, where arias alternated | | | | opéra comique still thrived in |
| with spoken dialogue. Notable examples | | | | the hands of composers like André |
| in this style were produced by Monsigny, | | | | Messager and Reynaldo Hahn. Indeed, for |
| Philidor and, above all, Grétry. | | | | many people, light and elegant works |
| During the Revolutionary period, | | | | like this represented the true French |
| composers such as Méhul and | | | | tradition as opposed to the "Teutonic |
| Cherubini, who were followers of Gluck, | | | | heaviness" of Wagner. This was the |
| brought a new seriousness to the genre, | | | | opinion of Maurice Ravel, who wrote only |
| which had never been wholly "comic" in | | | | two short but ingenious operas: L'heure |
| any case. | | | | espagnole (1911), a farce set in Spain; |
| By the 1820s, Gluckian influence in | | | | and L'enfant et les sortileges (1925), a |
| France had given way to a taste for | | | | fantasy set in the world of childhood in |
| Italian bel canto, especially after the | | | | which various animals and pieces of |
| arrival of Rossini in Paris. Rossini's | | | | furniture come to life and sing.[48] A |
| Guillaume Tell helped found the new | | | | younger group of composers, who formed a |
| genre of Grand opera, a form whose most | | | | group known as Les Six shared a similar |
| famous exponent was another foreigner, | | | | aesthetic to Ravel. The most important |
| Giacomo Meyerbeer. Meyerbeer's works, | | | | members of Les Six were Darius Milhaud, |
| such as Les Huguenots emphasised | | | | Arthur Honegger and Francis Poulenc. |
| virtuoso singing and extraordinary stage | | | | Milhaud was a prolific and versatile |
| effects. Lighter opéra comique | | | | composer who wrote in a variety of forms |
| also enjoyed tremendous success in the | | | | and styles, from the |
| hands of Boieldieu, Auber, Hérold | | | | Opéras-minutes (1927-28), none of |
| and Adolphe Adam. In this climate, the | | | | which is more than ten minutes long, to |
| operas of the French-born composer | | | | the epic Christophe Colomb (1928). [49] |
| Hector Berlioz struggled to gain a | | | | The Swiss-born Honegger experimented |
| hearing. Berlioz's epic masterpiece Les | | | | mixing opera with oratorio in works such |
| Troyens, the culmination of the Gluckian | | | | as Le roi David (1921) and Jeanne d'Arc |
| tradition, was not given a full | | | | au bucher (1938). But the most |
| performance for almost a hundred years. | | | | successful opera composer was Poulenc, |
| In the second half of the 19th century, | | | | though he came late to the genre with |
| Jacques Offenbach created operetta with | | | | the surrealist comedy Les mamelles de |
| witty and cynical works such as | | | | Tirésias in 1947. In complete |
| Orphée aux enfers; Charles Gounod | | | | contrast, Poulenc's greatest opera, |
| scored a massive success with Faust; and | | | | Dialogues des Carmélites (1957) |
| Bizet composed Carmen, which, once | | | | is an anguished spiritual drama about |
| audiences learned to accept its blend of | | | | the fate of a convent during the French |
| Romanticism and realism, became the most | | | | Revolution. Poulenc wrote some of the |
| popular of all opéra comiques. | | | | very few operas since the Second World |
| Massenet, Saint-Saëns and Delibes | | | | War to win a wide international |
| all composed works which are still part | | | | audience. Another post-war composer to |
| of the standard repertory. At the same | | | | attract attention outside France was |
| time, the influence of Richard Wagner | | | | Olivier Messiaen, like Polulenc a devout |
| was felt as a challenge to the French | | | | Catholic. Messiaen's religious drama |
| tradition. Many French critics angrily | | | | Saint François d'Assise (1983) |
| rejected Wagner's music dramas while | | | | requires huge orchestral and choral |
| many French composers closely imitated | | | | forces and lasts four hours. |