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