the opera

Operas as a form of art became popular in society around the mid 17th century. Originating from Italy, people viewed the opera as a combination of poetry, dance and music. At the time, people were quick to be awed by the ability of the opera to combine all three forms of art into one show of theatre. Obviously, the opera was quick to spread and develop in other countries. The one destination the opera soon gained popularity and fame in was no surprise. As Oscar de la Renta once said, “If you want to establish an international presence you can’t do so from New York. You need the consecration of Paris.”

The beginning of the Parisian opera was deeply rooted in the politics between France and Italy. Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian native, was the chief minister of France in the mid 17th century. As Louis XIV was only 5 years old when he came into power, Cardinal Mazarin and Queen Anne ruled France and Paris. They were both widely known to be involved with culture and patrons of the arts. As such, Cardinal Mazarin was a supporter of the opera and he used his influence to have Italian operas perform in Paris. Although the opera was not quick to gain the favor of the Parisians, King Louis XIV was quick to change this. Jean-Baptiste Lully had been the king’s royal musician since 1661 although he was born in Italy. King Louis XIV loved Lully’s work so when Italian attempts at popularizing the opera in Paris failed, Louis XIV asked Lully to use his music and begin creating an opera in 1671. As history will tell, the importance of the opera would be stem from countries using it as an instrument to display their cultures to everyone else and gain respect.

Jean-Baptiste Lully’s first task in creating an opera was finding someone to write the s...

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...se, this blend of both Italian and Parisian style would progress and eventually signaled the end of the Quarelle de Bouffons.

The French opera would become far less interesting by the time of the French Revolution. Almost all operas assumed the theme of seriousness and the distinct characteristic of styles were slightly fading. When Napoleon took power though, he simplified things by reducing the number of Opera houses in Paris to 3. By doing this Napoleon only allowed three main styles of opera to exist. The largest house, the Paris Opera, continued to create performances based on Gluck’s views. The second opera house, was the Opera Comique, which was the least polarizing house and performed a generally accepted form of the opera. Lastly, Napoleon created the Theater Italian, which as its name suggests was a house that imported performers displayed their works at.