Opera Comique

By parisian on 27/06/2010 in Attractions

The theatre national de l’Opera Comique (National Opera Comic Theatre) is an opera company and opera house in Paris. It is located in Place Boieldieu, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, not far from the Palais Garnier, one of the theatres operated by the Paris National Opera.

Foundation

The Opera Comique company was established in 1714 by the St Germain troupe which performed in the fairs in Paris to offer French musical plays as an alternative to Italian opera that then dominated the continent. By an agreement with the Opera productions at the Opera Comique were distinguished from those at the Academie Royale de Musique by having plays interspersed with music and dance; the audience was likewise more mixed than at the Opera. The initial repertoire consisted of pantomimes and operatic parodies – the main requirement of the company was that scenes with spoken dialogue should intersperse the musical items. The first work with the designation opera-comique was Telemaque by Lesage.

To 1807

In the first half of the 18th century performances were seasonal, according to when fairs were open. In the early days the role of librettist for the theatre was more important than that of composer – and pre-eminent among them was Charles-Simon Favart, who wrote both operatic parodies and original plays. 1753 saw the first genuine opera-comique (usually known previously as “comedies melee d’ariettes”) Les Troqueurs by Dauvergne. In 1762 the Opera Comique was merged into the Comedie Italienne and occupied the Hôtel de Bourgogne, gaining in respectability what it lost in independence. The company was renamed to Opera Comique by an edict of the king in 1780, although the names Comedie Italienne and Theatre 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 Gretry featured strongly.

With the proliferation of opera houses after the Law of 1791 which removed restrictions on the opening of theatres, there was competition with the Theatre Feydeau, which was resolved in 1801 by merger. By 1807 Napoleon had reduced theatrical freedoms, and the Opera Comique was named one of four primary theatres in Paris.

The 19th century

Lithograph of the second Salle Favart which housed the company between 1840 and 1887.

Fire at the second Salle Favart on 25 May 1887 (engraving).

French opera comique, in the 19th century at least, was not necessarily comic; the term covered a much wider category of work. Notable composers in the history of the Opera Comique include Auber, Halevy, Berlioz and Bizet.

In 1840, the Opera 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 Herold’s Le Pre aux clercs. During the 1850s and 1860s the Theatre Lyrique offered competition in the type of repertoire staged, being particularly strong in its policy of new commissions.

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.

The Opera Comique staged the first performances of such important French works as Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust (1846), Thomas’ Mignon (1866), and Bizet’s Carmen (1875). In the latter part of the century the theatre revived works it had made its own, restaged works from the repertoire of the Theatre Lyrique (which had closed in 1872) and premiered new pieces, such as Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (1881); Delibes’ Lakme (1883); Massenet’s Manon (1884), Esclarmonde (1889), and Werther (French premiere in 1893); and Charpentier’s Louise (1900).

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 Leon 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 was officially opened in the presence of President Felix Faure on 7 December 1898.

The 20th century

As the differences between opera and opera 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 Pelleas et Melisande (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 Opera-Comique, of which 222 were either world premieres (136) or the first performance in Paris (86).

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. In 1939 financial problems resulted in the Opera Comique being merged with the Opera to become the ‘Reunion des Theatres Lyriques Nationaux’. Notable premieres during this period included Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tiresias (1947) and La Voix humaine (1959). In 1972 the Opera Comique company was closed (although the theatre itself received visiting productions) and its government grant added to that of the Opera.

The company regained its autonomy and returned to the Salle Favart in 1990. It currently mounts 7 or 8 operas or opera comiques (some of them co-productions), with complementary concerts, recitals and exhibitions, each season. In common with many other opera houses the Opera Comique also offers relayed performances to cinemas (around France and in Europe); Carmen in June 2009 and Beatrice et Benedict in March 2010.

The capacity of the theatre is around 1,248 seats. (Text Source: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia)

Opera Comique is located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. So, you may want to see;