18th Century French Opera

Question 1

Tragedie Lyrique

Answer 1

Sung throughout, Mythological topics (God’s Heroes). Had Chorus and Ballet.

Question 2

Opera-Comique

Answer 2

Spoken dialogue and pieces (songs), had more contemporary settings [mixture of classes]

Question 3

*Les Deux Journees

Answer 3

an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It takes the form of an opéra comique, meaning not that the subject matter is humorous, but that the piece is a mixture of spoken dialogue and musical numbers.

Question 4

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Answer 4

Born in the Holy Roman Empire, he gained prominence at the Habsburg Court in Vienna. Gluck introduced more drama by using simpler recitative and cutting the usually long da capo aria. His later operas have half the length of a typical baroque opera. Moved to Paris and fused Italian and French Opera into a synthesis. Revolutionized French opera