French Opera at the Fin de Siecle: Wagnerism, Nationalism, and Style (review)

French Opera at the Fin de Siècle: Wagnerism, Nationalism, and Style. Steven Huebner.New York: Oxford University Press, 1999 544 pages, $125.00.

During most of the first seventy years of the nineteenth century, France was possibly the dominant military force in Europe, and Paris was almost universally considered the cultural capital of the Western world. It was to Paris that all the great opera composers from outside France flocked, including Rossini, Meyerbeer, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Offenbach, Mercadante, and even Wagner. The most noted French composers before 1870 included Auber, Halévy, Gounod, Adam, and Berlioz. At one time or another, Paris had up to five opera companies, most notably the Académie de Musique (Opéra), Opéra-Comique, Théâtre Italien, Théâtre Lyrique, and a few others, such as the Odéon, the Théâtre de la Renaissance, and so on. These companies generally used whatever theater was available, with the same theater housing different companies in different time frames. During its lifetime, the Opéra has used fourteen different theaters, the latest one being the new Bastille.

From around 1825 to 1870, Meyerbeer, Halévy, Auber, Adam, and Gounod were all the rage, while Berlioz, who composed several stage works for Paris, was a dismal failure. The reception of Wagner's Tannhäuser in 1861 was even worse, although quite a few factors not inherent in the music contributed to it. ¹ All this changed some years after France's defeat by the Prussians in the war of 1870-71, with Wagner's shadow looming ever larger, especially after his death in 1883. The musical elite (critics, the avant-garde, and other self-styled opinion leaders) began to demand Wagner and objected vociferously when operas by other composers were performed. Still, with the exception of the ill-fated Tannhäuser in 1861 and a solitary Lohengrin in Nice twenty years later, it was not until 1887 that the second complete Wagner opera was performed anywhere in Paris and not until 1891 that Lohengrin was performed at the Opéra. The tale behind these events is a fascinating one, and Steven Huebner's book lights the way. It is everything a book should be: readable, informative, accurate, and fascinating.

Before looking more closely at Huebner's book, a quick glance at the history of French opera during the nineteenth century might be useful. During the first twenty-four years the Parisian operatic scene made relatively little impact, with only Spontini's La vestale (1807) winning an extended international career. All this changed drastically in 1825, when Auber achieved his first great success with Le maçon and Boieldieu his greatest with La dame blanche. Both were opéras comiques, leaving the Opéra in the doldrums until Rossini arrived. It was then, during the second and third quarters of the century, that the Opéra reached its greatest heights, with the four masterpieces by Meyerbeer, Halévy's La juive, Donizetti's La favorite, Les martyrs, and Dom Sébastien, Thomas's Hamlet, and three works (two new) by Verdi. ² Not to be outdone, the Théâtre Italien premiered Bellini's I Puritani, as well as Donizetti's Marino Faliero and Don Pasquale, while the Théâtre Lyrique gave the world one of the most successful of all French operas: Gounod's Faust. It was one of the most fruitful periods of great new operas any city ever enjoyed. But in spite of all the works premiered at the Théâtre Italien, the Théâtre Lyrique, and the Opéra Comique, the main action was still at the Opéra. But with the deaths of Halévy in 1862, Meyerbeer in 1863, and Auber in 1871, it was up to Gounod, Bizet, and Massenet to salvage the honor of French grand opera. They were soon to be joined by Reyer and Saint-Saëns, but, with...