French Opera 1730-1830: Meaning and Media (Variorum Collected Studies Series, Cs 634)

The majority of these collected essays date from 1992 onwards, three of them having been specially expanded for this volume. Drawing on recent archival research and new musicological theory, they investigate distinctive qualities in French opera from early opéra comique to early grand opera. ‘Media’ is interpreted in terms of both narrative systems and practical theatre resources. One group of essays identifies narrative systems in ‘minuet-scenes’, in the diegetic romance, and in special uses of musical motives. Another group concerns the theory and æsthetics of opera, in which uses of metaphor help us interpret audience reception. A third group focuses on orchestral and staging practices, brought together in a new theory of the ‘melodrama model’ linking various genres from the 1780s with the world of the 1820s. French opera’s relation with literature and politics is a continuing theme, explored in writings on prison scenes, Ossian, and public-private dramaturgy in grand opera. David Charlton has written widely on French music and opera topics for over 25 years. The selection of his articles presented here focuses on the period 1730-1830 when Paris was a hotbed of influential ideas in music and music theatre, with many of these ideas taken up by foreign composers. This volume assesses the French contribution to the development of Classical and Romantic styles and genres which has hitherto not received the attention it deserves. The Romance And Its Cognates: Narrative, Irony And Vraisemblance In Early Opera Comique (die Opera Comique Und Ihr Einflusz Auf Das Europaische Musiktheater Im 19. Jahrhundert, Ed. Herbert Schneider And Nicole Wild. Hildesheim, 1997) -- Continuing Polarities: Opera Theory And Opera-comique (expanded From Kein Ende Der Gegensatze: Operntheorien Und Opera Comique. Text Und Musik: Neue Perspektiven Der Theorie, Ed. Michael Walter. Munich, 1992) -- Orchestra And Chorus At The Comedie-italienne (opera-comique), 1755-1799 (slavonic And Western Music: Essays For Gerald Abraham, Ed. Malcolm Hamrick Brown And Roland John Wiley. Ann Arbor And Oxford, 1985) -- The Overture To Philidor's Le Bucheron (1763) (d'un Opera L'autre: Hommage A Jean Mongredien, Ed. Jean Gribenski, Marie-claire Mussat And Herbert Schneider. Paris, 1996) -- 'envoicing' The Orchestra: Enlightenment Metaphors In Theory And Practice (expanded From L'orchestre Et La Metaphore Du Vivant De Mozart. Mozart: Les Chemins De L'europe, Ed. Brigitte Massin. Strasbourg, 1997) -- 'minuet-scenes' In Early Opera-comique (timbre Und Vaudeville. Zur Geschichte Und Problematik Einer Popularen Gattung Im 17. Und 18. Jahrhundert, Ed. Herbert Schneider. Hildesheim, 1999) -- Motive And Motif: Mehul Before 1791 (music And Letters 57. Oxford, 1976) -- Motif And Recollection In Four Operas Of Dalayrac (soundings 7. Cardiff, 1978) -- The French Theatrical Origins Of Fidelio (ludwig Van Beethoven: 'fidelio', Ed. Paul Robinson. Cambridge, 1996). David Charlton. Consists Of Fourteen Essays Published 1976-1999; Three Are Revised, And Two Of These Are English Versions Originally Published In French Or German. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.