Opéra-National
Encyclopedia
The Opéra-National was a Parisian opera company founded by the French composer Adolphe Adam
in 1847 in order to provide an alternative to the two primary companies performing French opera in Paris, the Opéra
and the Opéra-Comique
. The aims of the new company were to provide a performance venue for young French composers who were unlikely to have new works produced by those more established theatres, to revive opéras comiques from an earlier period, and to bring opera with a lower ticket price to a wider public. The company first performed in the relatively large Cirque Olympique located on the Boulevard du Temple
in a working class district of Paris. Financial difficulties and the turmoil of the 1848 Revolution caused the company to close in March of that year, but it was subsequently revived under a new director, Edmond Seveste, in 1851, when it moved to the Théâtre Historique, only a short distance away on the Boulevard du Temple. In 1852 the company was renamed Théâtre Lyrique
and would continue to operate under that name until 1872.
the many restrictions on non-state theaters were removed, and laws were passed which allowed essentially anyone to open a theatre. The number of theatres proliferated, and it became increasingly difficult for any of them to make money, including those which were state sponsored. In June of 1806 Napoleon I issued a decree
requiring anyone who desired to open a new theatre to persuade the minister of the interior to make a proposal, and then obtain the authorization of the emperor. In addition, any theatre wishing to stage a work normally performed by the Opéra
, the Comédie-Française
, or the Opéra-Comique
would be required to pay a fee to the management of the affected institution. The decree also stated that only the Opéra could perform particular ballets of a historical or mythological nature. The situation, however, continued to deteriorate, and on 8 August 1807 he decided that only eight theatres (four primary and four secondary) could continue to operate. The primary theatres were the Opéra, the Comédie-Française, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre de l'Impératrice (Théâtre-Italien). The four secondary theaters were the Vaudeville
, the Variétés
, the Gaité, and the Ambigu-Comique
. The other twenty-five or so theaters were required to cease operations by 15 August.
Thus the number of theatres where French music might be performed was reduced to just two: the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique. Even in those theatres dedicated to the performance of music, operas were never the only type of presentation, in fact operatic productions were in the minority. After Napoleon's downfall, and particularly after the July Revolution
of 1830, there were numerous attempts to circumvent that limitation and enlarge the number of "music theatres" in Paris. And so, opéra comique
was performed at Théâtre du Gymnase (in 1820), then at the Théâtre Lyrique de l'Odéon (1824-1829), the Théâtre des Nouveautés
(1827-1831), and finally at the Théâtre de la Renaissance
beginning in 1838, where shows fluctuated between comic and serious works. All of them were short lived attempts, and the latter failed in the middle of 1841.
As early as 1842 a number of composers and dramatists (Hector Berlioz
, Adolphe Adam
, Ambroise Thomas
among others) petitioned administrative authorities to create a permanent third opera house in Paris, dedicated particularly to staging works of lesser known, younger composers, operas which they would perhaps have no chance of having produced in the other two, more prestigious institutions. That first attempt failed, however, as well as their second attempt, in 1844, which was also rejected. Finally one individual attempt succeeded.
and at that time the manager of the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
, succeeded in obtaining a license to open the Opéra-National. The license also allowed Adam to perform many of his works which had previously been in the repertory of the Opéra-Comique. The stated aims of the new company were to bring French opera
to a wider public and provide a performance venue for younger, less well-established French composers. Adam's first plan had been to use Crosnier's theatre at the Porte Saint-Martin, but Crosnier had in the interval learned that it was more financially rewarding to rent that theatre to others. Adam was therefore obliged to search for another, and with his license in hand and a partnership with Achille Mirecour, he was able to acquire the Cirque Olympique (66 Boulevard du Temple
) for 1,400,000 francs. At a further cost of 200,000 francs, the theatre, which had been designed for an indoor equestrian circus (originally founded by Philip Astley
), was significantly renovated and altered for use as an opera house by the architect Louis Charles Théodore Charpentier. Having a capacity of 2400, it was unusually large, so the acoustics were less than ideal, but the stage projected into the auditorium, which was a help to the singers.
The theatre opened on 15 November 1847 with a program consisting of a musical prologue (Les premiers pas ou Les deux génies) and the premiere of a 3-act opera Gastibelza, the latter with a libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery
and Eugène Cormon
and music by Aimé Maillart
. The prologue, a pastiche with music by Adam, Daniel Auber
, Fromental Halévy
, and Michele Carafa
, and a libretto by Alphonse Royer
and Gustave Vaëz, was highly topical, with references to the "Boulevard du Crime
" (a nickname the Boulevard du Temple had acquired from the performance there of so many melodrama
s dealing with sensational crimes), as well as the new railway running from Paris
to Tours
, one of the technical wonders of the time.
Subsequent productions included a 16 November revival of a 3-act opéra-comique by Berton
called Aline, reine de Goconde, first performed at the Salle Feydeau on 3 September 1803, and re-orchestrated by Adam for the revival; a 23 November revival of a 1-act opéra-comique by Adam called Une bonne fortune, first performed by the Opéra-Comique on 23 January 1834 at the Salle de la Bourse; a 22 December revival of Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
's 3-act Félix, ou L'enfant trouvé with a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine
and first performed at Fontainebleau on 10 November 1777, repeated at the Hôtel de Bourgogne
on 24 November, and revived at the Salle Feydeau on 23 November 1801, and also re-orchestrated by Adam; a 22 January revival of Adam's 3-act Le brasseur de Preston, first performed at the Salle de la Bourse on 31 October 1838; and a revival of Scard's 1-act La tête de Méduse.
Financially the company had difficulties from the very beginning, and artistically its achievement was minimal. The Musical World of 22 January 1848 wrote that one performance "obtained but a mediocre success owing to the detestable style in which it was executed", adding that "the singers were frightful, the chorus almost as bad as those at the Italiens, and worse than those at the Opéra Comique; the orchestra weak and coarse." Further troubles came with the outbreak of the 1848 Revolution on 23 February 1848. The turmoil forced the closure of all theatres for several days, and they were only allowed to reopen if they donated their initial receipts for the care of the wounded. On 6 March Adam's company premiered the 1-act Les Barricades de 1848 (libretto by Edouard-Louis Alexandre Brissebarre and Saint-Yves, a pseudonym of Édouard Déaddé; music by Pilati and Eugène Gautier), but all the theatres were presenting similar patriotic occasional pieces, and although the program also included Hervé
's 1-act Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança
, later described by Reynaldo Hahn
as "irresistible buffoonery", the audiences were sparse. Soon thereafter Adam exhausted his funds and on 28 March 1848 retired as director of the company.
and Molière
with ones of Gluck and Lully
, installation in the foyer of a grand piano surmounted with a bust of Weber, and structural alterations to some ancillary spaces, including converting stables used for horses in Dumas's historical dramas, into the musicians' green room
.
While work on the theatre was in progress, rehearsals were held at the Salle Ventadour
. Alphonse Varney
, who had been the conductor of the orchestra at Théâtre Historique under Dumas, had been hired as the conductor of the newly revived Opéra-National. Of note among the singers who had been engaged were the baritone Auguste Meillet, his wife, the soprano Marie-Stéphanie Meillet (née Meyer), and the bass Marcel Junca.
) or sung recitative
and prose or verse librettos and with or without ballets. No single composer could have more than six new acts presented in one season (acts were counted rather than works) and preference was to be given to Prix de Rome
winners up to two years after the award was made. In addition, up to two translated foreign works were permitted, as well as French works ten years after their premiere, and any number of public domain works, so long as these did not exceed 33% of the number of new acts presented over a two year period. The company also had the right to revive any number of works which it had already produced, encouraging the company to establish its own repertory. It is important to note that company did not receive any state subsidy before 1864, increasing the importance of revivals of popular, established works to its financial survival.
and Gustave Vaëz. Hector Berlioz
, who reviewed the performance, was not particularly taken with the music of Boisselot, but gave the chorus high marks. The orchestra conducted by Varney was praised as young and energetic by the Moniteur Universel. The opera was performed a total of 21 times that year but only 4 times the next. Boisselot's new opera was followed the next night with Le barbier de Séville (a French adaptation by Castil-Blaze
of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia) and Ferdinando Paer's Le maître de chapelle
, both more reliable money-makers. The company performed the former a total of 126 times, and the latter, 182 times. In fact this was to become the pattern later in the history of the company: occasional new operas among numerous French language revivals of popular foreign works.
Perhaps the most successful new French work that first season was Felicien David's La perle du Brésil, first performed on 22 November. Although the production was apparently not up to snuff (Berlioz reported that it was "sometimes good, often bad and in all, of little advantage to the composer"), it nevertheless received 17 performances before the end of that year, 47 the next, and a total of 144 by the company.
The year 1852 brought another memorable new work, a one-act opéra-comique by Adolphe Adam called La poupée de Nuremberg
which premiered on 21 February with 47 performances that year and 98 total by the company. Its success was somewhat tarnished by the death of Edmond Seveste on 28 February. Seveste's brother Jules became temporary director and was officially appointed to the post on 1 May from a field of 20 applicants that included the tenor Gilbert Duprez
. The very next new production was Duprez's 3-act opera Joanita (a revision of his earlier L'abime de la maladetta) which opened on 11 March and starred his daughter, soprano Caroline Duprez, who had already created the lead soprano role of the first version in Brussels on 19 November 1851 and would go on to create the role of Catherine in Meyerbeer's L'étoile du nord
at the Opéra-Comique
in 1854.
On 12 April, during Joanita's short run of 15 performances, the management decided to change the name of the company to Théâtre Lyrique
. As attendance was falling rapidly, Joanita was replaced with La pie voleuse, a Castil-Blaze adaptation of Rossini's La gazza ladra
, on 23 April, but it only received 7 performances as the season was almost over. The season had run from late September to the end of April, a pattern that was to be repeated in later seasons which usually ran from September or early October to May or sometimes even into the summer. Jules Seveste had sought a state subsidy of 50,000 francs for the following year, but it was too late: the budget had already been finalized. In addition, the conductor Alphonse Varney resigned his position and went to Ghent
in order to have more time to devote to composition. He was replaced by his assistant conductor, Auguste Francis Placet, and the violinist Adolphe Deloffre
, who had recently returned to Paris from London, was made assistant conductor.
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
in 1847 in order to provide an alternative to the two primary companies performing French opera in Paris, the Opéra
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
and the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
. The aims of the new company were to provide a performance venue for young French composers who were unlikely to have new works produced by those more established theatres, to revive opéras comiques from an earlier period, and to bring opera with a lower ticket price to a wider public. The company first performed in the relatively large Cirque Olympique located on the Boulevard du Temple
Boulevard du Temple
The Boulevard du Temple is a thoroughfare in Paris that separates the 3rd arrondissement from the 11th. It runs from the Place de la République to the Place Pasdeloup, and its name refers to the nearby Knights Templars' Temple where they established their Paris priory.-History:The Boulevard du...
in a working class district of Paris. Financial difficulties and the turmoil of the 1848 Revolution caused the company to close in March of that year, but it was subsequently revived under a new director, Edmond Seveste, in 1851, when it moved to the Théâtre Historique, only a short distance away on the Boulevard du Temple. In 1852 the company was renamed Théâtre Lyrique
Théâtre Lyrique
The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century . The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852...
and would continue to operate under that name until 1872.
Background
In 1791 during the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
the many restrictions on non-state theaters were removed, and laws were passed which allowed essentially anyone to open a theatre. The number of theatres proliferated, and it became increasingly difficult for any of them to make money, including those which were state sponsored. In June of 1806 Napoleon I issued a decree
Decree on the theatres
On 10 thermidor year 15 , Napoleon I of France signed a decree reducing the number of theatres in Paris to eight, giving the force of law to a decree of the interior minister of 25 April that same year. This measure cut short an expansion in theatres.Following is a list of the theatres that...
requiring anyone who desired to open a new theatre to persuade the minister of the interior to make a proposal, and then obtain the authorization of the emperor. In addition, any theatre wishing to stage a work normally performed by the Opéra
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
, the Comédie-Française
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....
, or the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
would be required to pay a fee to the management of the affected institution. The decree also stated that only the Opéra could perform particular ballets of a historical or mythological nature. The situation, however, continued to deteriorate, and on 8 August 1807 he decided that only eight theatres (four primary and four secondary) could continue to operate. The primary theatres were the Opéra, the Comédie-Française, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre de l'Impératrice (Théâtre-Italien). The four secondary theaters were the Vaudeville
Théâtre du Vaudeville
The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles....
, the Variétés
Théâtre des Variétés
The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...
, the Gaité, and the Ambigu-Comique
Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique
The theatre was rebuilt to plans by the architects Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Jean-François-Joseph Lecointe on the boulevard Saint-Martin, at the corner of rue de Bondy...
. The other twenty-five or so theaters were required to cease operations by 15 August.
Thus the number of theatres where French music might be performed was reduced to just two: the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique. Even in those theatres dedicated to the performance of music, operas were never the only type of presentation, in fact operatic productions were in the minority. After Napoleon's downfall, and particularly after the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
of 1830, there were numerous attempts to circumvent that limitation and enlarge the number of "music theatres" in Paris. And so, opéra comique
Opéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
was performed at Théâtre du Gymnase (in 1820), then at the Théâtre Lyrique de l'Odéon (1824-1829), the Théâtre des Nouveautés
Théâtre des Nouveautés
The name Théâtre des Nouveautés has been used successively to refer to several different Parisian theatre companies and their buildings, beginning in 1827...
(1827-1831), and finally at the Théâtre de la Renaissance
Théâtre de la Renaissance
The name Théâtre de la Renaissance has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building on the Rue Méhul in the 2nd arrondissement.The current...
beginning in 1838, where shows fluctuated between comic and serious works. All of them were short lived attempts, and the latter failed in the middle of 1841.
As early as 1842 a number of composers and dramatists (Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
, Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
, Ambroise Thomas
Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
among others) petitioned administrative authorities to create a permanent third opera house in Paris, dedicated particularly to staging works of lesser known, younger composers, operas which they would perhaps have no chance of having produced in the other two, more prestigious institutions. That first attempt failed, however, as well as their second attempt, in 1844, which was also rejected. Finally one individual attempt succeeded.
At the Cirque Olympique under Adolphe Adam (1847–1848)
In 1847 Adolphe Adam, with the help of his friend François Louis Crosnier, a former director of the Opéra-ComiqueOpéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
and at that time the manager of the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin
The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10e arrondissement of Paris.- History :...
, succeeded in obtaining a license to open the Opéra-National. The license also allowed Adam to perform many of his works which had previously been in the repertory of the Opéra-Comique. The stated aims of the new company were to bring French opera
French Opera
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen...
to a wider public and provide a performance venue for younger, less well-established French composers. Adam's first plan had been to use Crosnier's theatre at the Porte Saint-Martin, but Crosnier had in the interval learned that it was more financially rewarding to rent that theatre to others. Adam was therefore obliged to search for another, and with his license in hand and a partnership with Achille Mirecour, he was able to acquire the Cirque Olympique (66 Boulevard du Temple
Boulevard du Temple
The Boulevard du Temple is a thoroughfare in Paris that separates the 3rd arrondissement from the 11th. It runs from the Place de la République to the Place Pasdeloup, and its name refers to the nearby Knights Templars' Temple where they established their Paris priory.-History:The Boulevard du...
) for 1,400,000 francs. At a further cost of 200,000 francs, the theatre, which had been designed for an indoor equestrian circus (originally founded by Philip Astley
Philip Astley
Philip Astley was an English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the "father of the modern circus"...
), was significantly renovated and altered for use as an opera house by the architect Louis Charles Théodore Charpentier. Having a capacity of 2400, it was unusually large, so the acoustics were less than ideal, but the stage projected into the auditorium, which was a help to the singers.
The theatre opened on 15 November 1847 with a program consisting of a musical prologue (Les premiers pas ou Les deux génies) and the premiere of a 3-act opera Gastibelza, the latter with a libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery
Adolphe d'Ennery
Adolphe Philippe d'Ennery or Dennery was a French Jewish dramatist and novelist.Born in Paris, his real surname was Philippe...
and Eugène Cormon
Eugène Cormon
Pierre-Etienne Piestre, known as Eugène Cormon , was a French dramatist and librettist. He used his mother’s name, Cormon, during his career....
and music by Aimé Maillart
Aimé Maillart
Louis-Aimé Maillart was a French composer, best known for his operas, particularly Les Dragons de Villars and Lara.-Biography:Maillart was born in Montpellier...
. The prologue, a pastiche with music by Adam, Daniel Auber
Daniel Auber
Daniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...
, Fromental Halévy
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...
, and Michele Carafa
Michele Carafa
Michele Enrico Carafa di Colobrano was an Italian opera composer. He was born in Naples and studied in Paris with Luigi Cherubini. He was Professor of counterpoint at the Paris Conservatoire from 1840 to 1858...
, and a libretto by Alphonse Royer
Alphonse Royer
Alphonse Royer, was a French author, dramatist and theatre manager, most remembered today for having written the librettos for Gaetano Donizetti's opera La favorite and Giuseppe Verdi's Jérusalem...
and Gustave Vaëz, was highly topical, with references to the "Boulevard du Crime
Boulevard du Crime
The Boulevard du Crime was the nickname given in the 19th century to the Boulevard du Temple in Paris because of the many crime melodramas that were shown every night in its many theaters. It is notorious in French history for having lost so many theatres during the rebuilding of Paris by Baron...
" (a nickname the Boulevard du Temple had acquired from the performance there of so many melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
s dealing with sensational crimes), as well as the new railway running from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, one of the technical wonders of the time.
Subsequent productions included a 16 November revival of a 3-act opéra-comique by Berton
Henri Montan Berton
Henri Montan Berton was a French composer, teacher, and writer, and the son of Pierre Montan Berton.-Career:...
called Aline, reine de Goconde, first performed at the Salle Feydeau on 3 September 1803, and re-orchestrated by Adam for the revival; a 23 November revival of a 1-act opéra-comique by Adam called Une bonne fortune, first performed by the Opéra-Comique on 23 January 1834 at the Salle de la Bourse; a 22 December revival of Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny was a French composer and a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts .He is considered alongside André Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor to have been the founder of a new musical genre, the opéra comique, laying a path for other French composers such as...
's 3-act Félix, ou L'enfant trouvé with a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine
Michel-Jean Sedaine
Michel-Jean Sedaine was a French dramatist, was born in Paris.- Biography :His father, who was an architect, died when Sedaine was quite young, leaving no fortune, and the boy began life as a mason's labourer...
and first performed at Fontainebleau on 10 November 1777, repeated at the Hôtel de Bourgogne
Hôtel de Bourgogne
Until the 16th century, the Hôtel de Bourgogne was the name of the Paris residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. Today, the last vestige is the Tour Jean sans Peur, 20 rue Étienne Marcel, in the 2nd arrondissement.-Theatre:...
on 24 November, and revived at the Salle Feydeau on 23 November 1801, and also re-orchestrated by Adam; a 22 January revival of Adam's 3-act Le brasseur de Preston, first performed at the Salle de la Bourse on 31 October 1838; and a revival of Scard's 1-act La tête de Méduse.
Financially the company had difficulties from the very beginning, and artistically its achievement was minimal. The Musical World of 22 January 1848 wrote that one performance "obtained but a mediocre success owing to the detestable style in which it was executed", adding that "the singers were frightful, the chorus almost as bad as those at the Italiens, and worse than those at the Opéra Comique; the orchestra weak and coarse." Further troubles came with the outbreak of the 1848 Revolution on 23 February 1848. The turmoil forced the closure of all theatres for several days, and they were only allowed to reopen if they donated their initial receipts for the care of the wounded. On 6 March Adam's company premiered the 1-act Les Barricades de 1848 (libretto by Edouard-Louis Alexandre Brissebarre and Saint-Yves, a pseudonym of Édouard Déaddé; music by Pilati and Eugène Gautier), but all the theatres were presenting similar patriotic occasional pieces, and although the program also included Hervé
Hervé
Hervé is a French given name of Breton origin. In English, it is sometimes rendered Harvey or Hervey. It already appears in Latin sources of the eighth century as Charivius. A later Latin form is Herveus. It derives from Old Breton Huiarnviu Hervé is a French given name of Breton origin. In...
's 1-act Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança
Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança
Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança is a one-act 'tableau grotesque' or 'grotesque scene' with music by Hervé after Cervantes, first produced in 1847, which has been dubbed ‘the first French operetta’, and a precursor of the opéra bouffe....
, later described by Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn
Reynaldo Hahn was a Venezuelan, naturalised French, composer, conductor, music critic and diarist. Best known as a composer of songs, he wrote in the French classical tradition of the mélodie....
as "irresistible buffoonery", the audiences were sparse. Soon thereafter Adam exhausted his funds and on 28 March 1848 retired as director of the company.
At the Théâtre Historique under Edmond Seveste (1851–1852)
In 1851 the Opéra-National was revived, and on 1 May Edmond Seveste was appointed director. By the end of July he had taken a lease on the Théâtre Historique (72 Boulevard du Temple). Built by the dramatist Alexandre Dumas, the theatre had opened on 20 February 1847, but had closed on 20 December 1850 and was not in use and available. The entrance to the theatre consisted of a long narrow vestibule squeezed between two other buildings with a facade only eight meters wide. The auditorium, located in the back, was unusually wide (20 meters) and only 16 meters deep, and had a capacity of 1500–1700. It was thought to have excellent acoustics for opera, and the renovations required for its new purpose were minimal: a new paint job of white and gold, some furnishings, a drop curtain painted by Auguste Rubé, four candelabra fastened to the columns of the stage boxes, replacement of busts of CorneilleCorneille
Corneille is the French word for crow.Corneille is the name or pseudonym of several artists:* Corneille de Lyon , French portrait painter* Pierre Corneille , French dramatist* Thomas Corneille , French dramatist...
and Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
with ones of Gluck and Lully
Lully
-Places:*Switzerland**Lully, Fribourg, a municipality**Lully, Vaud, a municipality**Lully, Geneva, a village in the municipality of Bernex*France**Lully, Haute-Savoie-People:*Jean-Baptiste Lully , an Italian-born Baroque composer of French opera...
, installation in the foyer of a grand piano surmounted with a bust of Weber, and structural alterations to some ancillary spaces, including converting stables used for horses in Dumas's historical dramas, into the musicians' green room
Green room
In British English and American English show business lexicon, the green room is that space in a theatre, a studio, or a similar venue, which accommodates performers or speakers not yet required on stage...
.
While work on the theatre was in progress, rehearsals were held at the Salle Ventadour
Salle Ventadour
The Salle Ventadour, a former Parisian theatre in the rue Neuve-Ventadour, now the rue Méhul , was built between 1826 and 1829 for the Opéra-Comique, to designs by Jacques-Marie Huvé, a prominent architect...
. Alphonse Varney
Alphonse Varney
Alphonse Varney was a French conductor, mainly of opera. His son was the composer Louis Varney who studied music with his father.-Education:He studied at the Paris Conservatoire including counterpoint with Reicha....
, who had been the conductor of the orchestra at Théâtre Historique under Dumas, had been hired as the conductor of the newly revived Opéra-National. Of note among the singers who had been engaged were the baritone Auguste Meillet, his wife, the soprano Marie-Stéphanie Meillet (née Meyer), and the bass Marcel Junca.
Cahier des charges
The company's new cahier des charges (license) was liberal. It called for new French operas with spoken dialogue (opéra comiqueOpéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
) or sung recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...
and prose or verse librettos and with or without ballets. No single composer could have more than six new acts presented in one season (acts were counted rather than works) and preference was to be given to Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
winners up to two years after the award was made. In addition, up to two translated foreign works were permitted, as well as French works ten years after their premiere, and any number of public domain works, so long as these did not exceed 33% of the number of new acts presented over a two year period. The company also had the right to revive any number of works which it had already produced, encouraging the company to establish its own repertory. It is important to note that company did not receive any state subsidy before 1864, increasing the importance of revivals of popular, established works to its financial survival.
Opening and first season
The new opera house opened on 27 September 1851 with the premiere of a 3-act opéra-comique with music by Xavier Boisselot called Mosquita la sorcière. The libretto was by Eugène ScribeEugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
and Gustave Vaëz. Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
, who reviewed the performance, was not particularly taken with the music of Boisselot, but gave the chorus high marks. The orchestra conducted by Varney was praised as young and energetic by the Moniteur Universel. The opera was performed a total of 21 times that year but only 4 times the next. Boisselot's new opera was followed the next night with Le barbier de Séville (a French adaptation by Castil-Blaze
Castil-Blaze
François-Henri-Joseph Blaze, known as Castil-Blaze , was a French musicologist, music critic, composer, and music editor.-Biography:...
of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia) and Ferdinando Paer's Le maître de chapelle
Le maître de chapelle
Le maître de chapelle, ou Le souper imprévu is an opéra comique in two acts by the Italian composer Ferdinando Paer...
, both more reliable money-makers. The company performed the former a total of 126 times, and the latter, 182 times. In fact this was to become the pattern later in the history of the company: occasional new operas among numerous French language revivals of popular foreign works.
Perhaps the most successful new French work that first season was Felicien David's La perle du Brésil, first performed on 22 November. Although the production was apparently not up to snuff (Berlioz reported that it was "sometimes good, often bad and in all, of little advantage to the composer"), it nevertheless received 17 performances before the end of that year, 47 the next, and a total of 144 by the company.
The year 1852 brought another memorable new work, a one-act opéra-comique by Adolphe Adam called La poupée de Nuremberg
La poupée de Nuremberg
La poupée de Nuremberg is a one-act opéra comique by Adolphe Adam to a libretto by Adolphe de Leuven and Victor Arthur Rousseau de Beauplan. The story is based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s short story Der Sandmann...
which premiered on 21 February with 47 performances that year and 98 total by the company. Its success was somewhat tarnished by the death of Edmond Seveste on 28 February. Seveste's brother Jules became temporary director and was officially appointed to the post on 1 May from a field of 20 applicants that included the tenor Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert Duprez was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest. He also created the role of Edgardo in the popular bel canto-era opera Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835.-Biography:Gilbert-Louis Duprez, to give his full...
. The very next new production was Duprez's 3-act opera Joanita (a revision of his earlier L'abime de la maladetta) which opened on 11 March and starred his daughter, soprano Caroline Duprez, who had already created the lead soprano role of the first version in Brussels on 19 November 1851 and would go on to create the role of Catherine in Meyerbeer's L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord
L'étoile du nord is an opéra comique in three acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe....
at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in 1854.
On 12 April, during Joanita's short run of 15 performances, the management decided to change the name of the company to Théâtre Lyrique
Théâtre Lyrique
The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century . The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852...
. As attendance was falling rapidly, Joanita was replaced with La pie voleuse, a Castil-Blaze adaptation of Rossini's La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez....
, on 23 April, but it only received 7 performances as the season was almost over. The season had run from late September to the end of April, a pattern that was to be repeated in later seasons which usually ran from September or early October to May or sometimes even into the summer. Jules Seveste had sought a state subsidy of 50,000 francs for the following year, but it was too late: the budget had already been finalized. In addition, the conductor Alphonse Varney resigned his position and went to Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
in order to have more time to devote to composition. He was replaced by his assistant conductor, Auguste Francis Placet, and the violinist Adolphe Deloffre
Adolphe Deloffre
Louis Michel Adolphe Deloffre was a French violinist and conductor active in London and Paris, who conducted several important operatic premieres in the latter city, particularly by Charles Gounod and Georges Bizet....
, who had recently returned to Paris from London, was made assistant conductor.