Early ballet and opera are covered in this landmark study:
- La Valière, Louis César de La Baume Le Blanc, duc de. Ballets, opera, et autres
ouvrages lyriques, par ordre chronologique depuis leur origine; avec une table
alphabetique des ouvrages et des auteurs. Paris: C. J. B. Bauche, 1760. viii,
300p. Reprint, London: H. Baron, 1967. ML102 .O6 L16.
Works are listed in sequence from 1548 to 1673, with information on perfor-
mance (including names of casts in some cases) and publishing data. Also a
chronological list of composers and their works. Name and title index.
During the late 17th and 18th centuries, leading to the establishment of
Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique in 1801 (see #2312ff.), light opera-like
entertainments were presented at the Paris fairs (les foires); they came to be
called opéras-comiques. Those productions are well covered in: - Parfaict, François. Memoires pour servir a l’histoire des spectacles de la foire,
par un acteur forain. Paris: Briasson, 1743. 2v. Facsimile ed., New York: AMS, - ISBN 0-404-60179-0. PN2633 .P3.
An account ascribed to one of the actors but thought to be by both Claude and
François Parfaict, dealing with the fairs of S. Germaine and S. Laurent from
1697 to 1742. Extracts from official documents concerning the foire. Much
production information, including comments on the actors and the music. An
alphabetical list of works with premiere dates is in v.2. - Le Sage, Alain René. Le Théâtre de la Foire... Paris: P. Gandouin, 1737. 9v.
in 10. PQ1211 .L62.
History and repertoire for 1724–1731. - Isherwood, Robert. Farce and Fantasy: Popular Entertainment in Eighteenth-
Century Paris. New York: Oxford U.P., 1986. ix, 324p. ISBN 0-19-503648-4.
DC729 .I84.
Discusses music at the various fairs, singing on the Pont-Neuf, and beginning
of the genre known as opéra-comique. Bibliography and index. - Barnes, Clifford Rasmussen. “The Théâtre de la Foire (Paris, 1697–1792): Its
Music and Its Composers.” Ph.D. diss., U. of Southern California, 1965. iv,
531p.
In 1697 there was a formalization of fair performances under the name
Théâtre de la Foire and in 1715 under the name Opéra-Comique. Barnes con-
siders the evolution of the genre from vaudevilles to Grétry, Italian influences
(the fairs had taken over the repertoire of a troupe known as the Comédie-Ital-
ien, which was expelled in 1697), songs, and instruments. - Brown, Bruce Alan. “Éditions anciennes et modernes d’opéras-comiques:
Problèmes et méthodologies.” In Grétry(#927), 355–365.
Of the composers of opéra comique,only Gluck and Grétry have critical edi-
tions. None is planned for Galuppi or Paisiello. Considers status and difficul-
ties of publication of vaudevilles. Ascribes lack of modern productions of the
opéra-comique repertoire to lack of suitable editions.
420 Opera