tool of the state.” Essentially a cultural history, with attention to audience
responses. Thoroughly documented, with strong bibliography of about 400
items and an expansive index.- Gerhard, Anselm. The Urbanization of Opera: Music Theater in Paris in the
Nineteenth Century. Trans. Mary Whittall. Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, - xxi, 503p. ISBN 0-2262-8857-9. ML1728.8 P2 G38.
Originally Die Verstädterung der Oper: Paris und das Musiktheater des 19.
Jahrhunderts(Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1992; 491p.; ISBN 30-476-00850-9).
“Urbanization” is Gerhard’s term for the changes in opera that occurred in
Paris in the early 19th century. Opera was freed from the court and became
dependent on public acceptance for its success. Thus “new forms and conven-
tions that have nothing to do with the historical predecessors of grand opera”
emerged. Such conventions included the tragic ending, the indecisive hero, and
large choral scenes with the chorus in the role of a destructive mob. Aesthetics
of “the marvelous” continued to dominate at the Opéra until 1826. With
chapters on Rossini, Scribe, Meyerbeer, Victor Hugo as librettist, and Verdi.
Valuable bibliography of about 600 books, articles, and primary sources;
name and title index. - Barbier, Patrick. Opera in Paris, 1800–1850: A Lively History. Trans. Robert
Luoma. Portland, Ore.: Amadeus, 1995. vii, 243p. ISBN 0-931340-83-7.
ML1727.8 .P2 B313.
Originally La vie quotidienne à l’Opéra au temps de Rossini et de Balzac
(Paris: Hachette, 1987). A social history in popular “you are there” style. Con-
siders the impact of the emperor’s taste, management at the Opéra and Opéra-
Comique, audiences, artistic life, and role of the press. Rossini’s debut at the
Opéra is interestingly presented. Backnotes, bibliography of about 150 items,
name index. - Spies, André Michael. Opera, State and Society in the Third Republic, 1875–
- Studies in Modern European History, 23. New York: Peter Lang, 1998.
vii, 264p. ISBN 0-8204-3696-8. ML1727.8 .P2 S78.
An analysis of 138 French libretti premiered at the Opéra and the Opéra-
Comique from 1875 to 1914. Spies, like Gerhard (#2272), ascribes great social
content to these texts, seeing them as bearers of ideology. He asserts that the
“nineteenth-century idea that opera can only be amusing or beautiful” is in
decline. The problem he sees is how to distinguish social comment from mere
topical reference and local color. The social messages emanating from the two
opera houses (via the libretti) were similar until ca. 1879, then they diverged:
the Opéra remained proaristocratic, while the Comique became more demo-
cratic. Libretti were modified accordingly by the administrators of the opera
houses, who selected them in the first place because of their social messages.
Much useful background information included on the audiences, theatrical
customs (e.g., only men were allowed in the first 10 rows of seats at the
Opéra), and the librettists. Bibliography, index.
France 425