Opéra-Comique
Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique | |
Foire Saint-Germain | |
Type | Opera company |
---|---|
Location |
|
Leader | Olivier Mantei[2] |
Website | www |
Formerly called |
The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular
Origins
Since the
When the
Foundation and early history
In 1713 and 1714 several of the fair troupes were able to conclude a new series of agreements with the creditors of the deceased Guyenet, who at this point had become the managers of the rather expensive Opéra. For an annual fee the troupes obtained the right to perform light comedies interspersed with songs and dances and to use sets and theatre machines.
In 1743 the impresario Jean Monnet paid 12,000 livres to the Opéra for the right to run the Opéra-Comique, He renovated the theatre and brought together a group of highly talented creative artists, including, besides Favart, who also worked as a stage director, the comedian Préville, the stage designer François Boucher, and the ballet master Dupré and his pupil Jean-Georges Noverre. Jean-Philippe Rameau may also have been the leader of the orchestra. The company was, however, too successful, and the Opéra refused to renew Monnet's privilege in 1745. After working briefly in Lyon, and mounting unsuccessful productions in Dijon (1746) and London (1749), he was able to repurchase the Opéra-Comique privilège in December 1751 and remained its director until 1757.[12]
During his second period as director, Monnet continued to work with Favart and Noverre, and Boucher designed and built a substantial new theatre for the company of the Foire Saint-Laurent in 1752. The theatre was later installed in a wing of the
The dramatist
1762 to 1807
On 3 February 1762 the Opéra-Comique was merged into the Comédie-Italienne and occupied the Hôtel de Bourgogne,[17] gaining in respectability what it lost in independence. The company was renamed to Opéra-Comique by an edict of the king in 1780, although the names Comédie-Italienne and Théâtre Italien were still used frequently by the press and public for many years thereafter. In 1783 the company moved again, into the Salle Favart (architect Jean-François Heurtier; ca. 1,100 seats) on the site where the current theatre stands. Around that time the works of Grétry featured strongly.[11][18]
With the proliferation of opera houses after the Law of 1791 which removed restrictions on the opening of theatres, there was competition with the Théâtre Feydeau, which was resolved in 1801 by merger. By 1807 Napoleon had reduced theatrical freedoms, and the Opéra-Comique was named one of four primary theatres in Paris.
The 19th century
French opéra comique, in the 19th century at least, was not necessarily "comic" either in the classical sense of ending happily or the modern one of being funny; the term covered a much wider category of work. Notable composers in the history of the Opéra-Comique include Auber, Halévy, Berlioz and Bizet. After Rossini's arrival in Paris, new works at the Opéra-Comique took in Italian vocal style and techniques, leading to greater virtuosity, although "the repertory as a whole stood as a bulwark against the italianate invasion of Rossini".[19]
In 1840, the Opéra-Comique company settled in the second Salle Favart (architect Louis Charpentier; 1,500 seats), built on the site of the first theatre, destroyed by fire in 1838. The new house was inaugurated with a revival of Hérold's
Performances took place on most evenings of the week except for major festivals. Boxes could be hired for a year at a time, and many subscribers were wealthy. Before 1848 a third of subscribers were of the aristocracy, but after then it became an especially middle class theatre. After 1848 Émile Perrin sought to revive the repertoire with more literary and ambitious works. Until 1864 its repertoire was still prescribed, by statute, to have spoken dialogue between musical numbers.[20]
The Opéra-Comique staged the first performances of such important French works as Berlioz's
A fire at the Salle Favart on 25 May 1887 resulted in the death of 84 people by asphyxiation. The building was destroyed and the director Léon Carvalho was forced to resign, although later he was acquitted of blame and resumed the helm at the company from 1891 to 1897. The third Salle Favart (architect Louis Bernier) was officially opened in the presence of President Félix Faure on 7 December 1898.
The 20th century and beyond
As the differences between opéra and opéra comique faded, the two main houses in Paris came more into competition, although the Salle Favart saw the premieres of more innovative works: Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), Dukas' Ariane et Barbe-bleue (1907), Ravel's L'heure espagnole (1911), and French premieres of works by Puccini and Falla. Between 1900 and 1950, 401 works by 206 different composers were performed at the Opéra-Comique, of which 222 were either world premieres (136) or the first performance in Paris (86).[5]
In June 1936 a broadcast of Les Contes d'Hoffmann was disrupted by the start of a company sit-in demanding the director's resignation.
The Opéra-Comique discovered some fresh energy in 1950s, restaging
Although the company of the Opéra-Comique was disbanded (followed 20 years later by the closure of the
It currently mounts 7 or 8 operas or opéra comiques (some of them co-productions), with complementary concerts, recitals and exhibitions, each season. In common with many other opera houses the Opéra-Comique also offers relayed performances to cinemas (around France and in Europe); Carmen in June 2009 and Béatrice et Bénédict in March 2010. In 2013 an opera critic was moved to write that of Paris lyric theatres "over the past seven seasons, [the Opéra-Comique] has best succeeded in establishing a particular identity and achieving consistent quality in its productions".[28]
In the summer of 2015 the theatre closed for 18 months for major refurbishment including the costume department, the salle Bizet, and the hall Boieldieu. During the closure a webopera and a fan zone at the
Theatres used by the Opéra-Comique company
Theatre | Dates used | Notes |
---|---|---|
at fairs, seasonally | 1714 – 1762 | operated at the St Germain and St Laurent fairs |
Hôtel de Bourgogne | 3 February 1762 – 4 April 1783 | merged into Comédie-Italienne; theatre was built in the late 16th century |
Salle Favart (1st) | 28 April 1783 – 20 July 1801 | first Salle Favart destroyed by fire on 13–14 January 1838[32] |
Salle Feydeau
|
16 September 1801 – 22 July 1804 | merger with Théâtre Feydeau; kept company name Opéra-Comique |
Salle Favart (1st) | 23 July 1804 – 4 July 1805 | except Salle Olympique (3–23 October 1804) |
Salle Feydeau
|
2 September 1805 – 12 April 1829 | |
Salle Ventadour | 20 April 1829 – 22 March 1832 | on the rue Neuve-Ventadour, it was built for the Opéra-Comique |
Salle de la Bourse | 24 September 1832 – 30 April 1840 | built in 1827 also called the Théâtre des Nouveautés |
Salle Favart (2nd) | 16 May 1840 – 25 May 1887 | except Salle Ventadour (26 June – 4 July 1853); second Salle Favart destroyed by fire on 25 May 1887 |
Salle du Théâtre Lyrique | 15 October 1887 – 30 June 1898 | Place du Châtelet |
Théatre du Château-d'Eau | 26 October – 30 November 1898 | |
Salle Favart (3rd) | 7 December 1898 – present | Declared a historic monument in 1977. Fantasio, was staged at the Théâtre du Châtelet.[30]
|
Sources: "Opéra-Comique"[34] and "Paris"[20] in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera; Wild and Charlton 2005.[35] | ||
Notable premieres
Directors
The information in the following list is compiled from Wild,[41] Levin,[42] and Wolff.[5]
1829–1830 Paul-Auguste Ducis |
1888-1891 Louis Paravey Henri Busser 1941-1944 Max d'Ollone 1944 Lucien Muratore 1944 (Liberation) 4 member committee: Roger Désormière, Pierre Jamin, Louis Musy and Émile Rousseau 1945-1946 Albert Wolff 1946-1948 Henry Malherbe 1948-1951 Emmanuel Bondeville 1952-1953 Louis Beydts |
1990-1994 Thierry Fouquet
|
Music directors
1849-1868 Théophile Tilmant |
1910-1913 François Ruhlmann |
See also
References
Notes
- ^ a b c d Wild 1989, p. 324.
- ^ "A team". Opéra Comique. Mar 22, 2013. Retrieved Mar 3, 2021.
- ^ a b c Wild 1989, p. 325.
- ^ Opéra-Comique website accessed on 26 November 2010.
- ^ a b c Wolff 1953.
- ^ a b c Harris-Warrick 1992, pp. 858–860.
- ^ a b c Pitou 1983, vol. 1, pp. 24–25.
- ^ a b Johnson 2008, p. 162–163.
- ^ Wild 1992, p. 586.
- ^ Warrack and West 1996, p. 376. Partial view at Google Books.
- ^ a b c Harris-Warrick 1992, vol. 3, p. 863.
- ^ a b Cook 1992, p. 436.
- ^ Gourret 1985, pp. 81–84
- ^ Simeone 2000, p. 214.
- ^ The music and libretto for Bernardo Porta's version of Le diable à quatre have not been found.
- ^ Wild and Charlton 2005, p. 221.
- ^ Charlton 1986, p. 6.
- ^ Opera-Comique website: Historique, accessed 3 April 2009.
- ^ David Charlton. Paris §4 (iii) The Opéra-Comique. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, (Ed.) Sadie S., London & New York: Macmillan, 1997.
- ^ a b Harris-Warrick 1992.
- ^ Nichols R. The Harlequin Years: music in Paris 1917-1929. Thames & Hudson, London, 2002.
- ^ "Historique de 1936 à aujourd'hui" Archived 2010-05-06 at the Wayback Machine at the Opéra Comique website, accessed 31 March 2010.
- ^ a b c Wolff, Stéphane. The Opéra-Comique of Paris. Opera, March 1961, Vol 12 No3, p160-165.
- ^ a b c de Saint Pulgent, Maryvonne. L'Opéra-Comique - Le Gavroche de la Musique (Découvertes Gallimard 567). Gallimard, 2010. Chapitre 5 - Une Renaissance, p78-85.
- ^ Lyrica, October 1978, page 83.
- ^ Sadie, S. William Christie. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
- ^ "Décret n°2004-1232 du 20 novembre 2004 fixant le statut du Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique. - Légifrance". www.legifrance.gouv.fr.
- ^ Blamont N. Report from Paris/Review of Ciboulette. Opera, June 2013, 758.
- ^ a b News item 'Pendant les travaux'. Diapason No 641, December 2015, p12.
- ^ a b Shapiro, Yehuda. Gâteau Favart. Opera, February 2017, Vol.68 No.2, p168-171.
- ^ Blanmont, Nicolas. Report from Paris. Opera, August 2017, Vol.68 No.8, p1018-1019.
- ^ Pitou 1983, vol. 1, p. 56.
- ^ Opéra-Comique website, accessed 4 April 2009.
- ^ Sadie 1992, vol. 3, p. 688.
- ^ Wild and Charlton 2005, pp. 21, 33, 48, 61, 64, 65, 77, 78, 81, 85, 95, 98.
- Château Fontainebleauon 9 November 1771.
- ^ Concert conducted by Berlioz.
- ^ Based on Wild 2005, p. 410. Performed at the Nouveautés according to Forbes, Elizabeth, "Thomas, Ambroise" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, p. 727. The Opéra-Comique was not performing at the Salle de la Bourse (Théâtre des Nouveautés) in 1850, according to Harris-Warrick 1992, p. 867.
- ^ Based on Wild 2005, p. 95. Performed at the Salle Favart according to Macdonald, Hugh, "Lalo, Édouard" in Sadie 1992, vol. 2, p. 1086. No Salle Favart existed in 1888 according to Harris-Warrick 1992.
- ^ Based on Wild 2005, p. 96. Performed at the Salle Favart according to Langham Smith, Richard, "Bruneau, Alfred" in Sadie 1992, vol. 1, p. 621. No Salle Favart existed in 1891 according to Harris-Warrick 1992.
- ^ Wild 1989, p. 330
- ^ Levin 2009, p. 386.
- ^ Musical Directors taken from Wolff 1953.
Cited sources
- Charlton, David (1986). Grétry and the Growth of Opéra-Comique. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-25129-7.
- Cook, Elisabeth (1992). "Monnet [Monet], Jean" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, p. 436.
- Fauser, Annegret; Everist, Mark, editors (2009). Music, Theater, and Cultural Transfer: Paris, 1830–1914. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-23926-2.
- Gourret, Jean (1985). Histoire des salles de l'Opéra de Paris, p. 83. Paris: Guy Trédaniel. ISBN 978-2-85707-180-8.
- Harris-Warrick, Rebecca; Charlton, David; Johnson, Janet; Langham Smith, Richard; Pitt, Charles (1992). "Paris" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, pp. 855–879.
- Johnson, Victoria (2008). Backstage at the Revolution: How the Royal Paris Opera Survived the End of the Old Regime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-40195-9.
- Levin, Alicia (2009). "Appendix: A Documentary Overview of Musical Theaters in Paris, 1830–1900" in Fauser and Everist 2009, pp. 379–402.
- Pitou, Spire (1983). The Paris Opéra: an encyclopedia of operas, ballets, composers, and performers (3 volumes). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-686-46036-7.
- Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1992). The new Grove dictionary of opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-228-9.
- Simeone, Nigel (2000). Paris – A Musical Gazetteer. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-08053-7.
- Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-869164-8.
- Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1996). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280028-2.
- Wild, Nicole ([1989]). Dictionnaire des théâtres parisiens au XIXe siècle: les théâtres et la musique. Paris: Aux Amateurs de livres. .
- Wild, Nicole (1992). "Guyenet, Pierre" in Sadie 1992, vol. 2, p. 586.
- Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. ISBN 978-2-87009-898-1.
- Wolff, Stéphane (1953). Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950). Paris: André Bonne.
Additional sources
- Élart, Joann (2004). Catalogue des fonds musicaux conservés en Haute-Normandie. Tome I : Bibliothèque municipale de Rouen. Volume 1 : Fonds du Théâtre des Arts (XVIIIe et XIXe siècles), coll. Patrimoine musical régional (in French). Rouen: PURH. ISBN 978-2-87775-333-3.