Keys to French Opera in the Nineteenth Century

A lively history of French opera in its cultural and historical context by one of France's leading musicologists.

List of contents

List of Illustrations 
Preface to the English Edition 
Introduction 
Part 1 Genesis, Performance, and Reception
1 The Genesis of an Opera 
2 Performance 
3 Reception 
Part 2 Drama, Poetry, and Music 
4 The Construction of a Drama 
5 Space and Time 
6 Poetic Expression and Musical Expression 
Part 3 French Opera: Society, Genre, and Aesthetics
7 The Parisian Operatic World 
8 Genre 
9 The Aesthetic Foundations of Nineteenth-Century French Opera 
Conclusion 
Appendix 1 The Sources of Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles 
Appendix 2 The Versions of Les Pêcheurs de perles 
Appendix 3 Several States of the Beginning of the Act 2 Finale 
Appendix 4 Passages Cut in the Course of Performance 
Appendix 5 Performances and Daily Box-Office Receipts of the Théâtre-Lyrique,September 27–November 28, 1863 
Appendix 6 The Staging of Les Pêcheurs de perles 
Appendix 7 Symmetrical Versification and Reformulation of the Text 
Biographical Notes on Composers 
Notes 
Index 

About the author

Hervé Lacombe teaches at the University of Metz. He is working on another book about Bizet. Edward Schneider lives in New York and is a translator specializing in works about music and food.

Summary

Illuminates the diverse elements that constitute opera by focusing the investigation around three main categories: composition and production; words, music, and drama; and the interaction of society, genre, and aesthetics.

Product details

• Authors: Herv? Lacombe, Herva1/2 Lacombe, Herve Lacombe, Hervé Lacombe
• Assisted by: Edward Schneider (Translation), Schneider Edward (Translation)
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 12.01.2001
• EAN: 9780520217195
• ISBN: 978-0-520-21719-5
• No. of pages: 442
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > General, dictionaries; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Europe, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Opera, Opera, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Regional Studies, Regional / International studies