Typical features of French lyrical tragedies. Lyrical tragedy

There were not many musicians as truly French as this Italian; he alone in France maintained his popularity for a whole century.
R. Rolland

J. B. Lully is one of the largest opera composers of the 17th century, the founder of French musical theater. Lully entered the history of national opera both as the creator of a new genre - lyrical tragedy (as the great mythological opera was called in France), and as an outstanding theatrical figure - it was under his leadership that the Royal Academy of Music became the first and main opera house in France, which later gained worldwide fame called Grand Opera.

Lully was born into a miller's family. The teenager's musical abilities and acting temperament attracted the attention of the Duke of Guise, who c. 1646 took Lully to Paris, assigning him to serve the Princess of Montpensier (sister of King Louis XIV). Having not received a musical education in his homeland, and by the age of 14 he could only sing and play the guitar, Lully studied composition, singing in Paris, and took lessons in playing the harpsichord and his especially beloved violin. The young Italian, who achieved the favor of Louis XIV, made a brilliant career at his court. A talented virtuoso, about whom contemporaries said - “to play the violin like Baptiste”, he soon entered the famous orchestra “24 Violins of the King”, ca. 1656 organized and led his own small orchestra “16 Violins of the King”. In 1653, Lully received the position of “court composer of instrumental music”, from 1662 he was already the superintendent of court music, and 10 years later he was the owner of a patent for the right to found the Royal Academy of Music in Paris “with lifelong use of this right and its transfer by inheritance to whichever of his sons succeeds him as Superintendent of the King's Music." In 1681, Louis XIV awarded his favorite with letters of nobility and the title of royal advisor-secretary. Having died in Paris, Lully retained his position as the absolute ruler of the musical life of the French capital until the end of his days.

Lully's creativity developed mainly in those genres and forms that were developed and cultivated at the court of the “Sun King”. Before turning to opera, Lully, in the first decades of his service (1650-60), composed instrumental music (suites and divertimentos for string instruments, individual plays and marches for wind instruments, etc.), spiritual works, and music for ballet performances (“Sick Cupid”, “Alsidiana”, “Ballet of Ridicule”, etc.). Constantly participating in court ballets as a composer, director, actor and dancer, Lully mastered the traditions of French dance, its rhythmic intonation and stage features. Collaboration with J. B. Moliere helped the composer enter the world of French theater, feel the national originality of stage speech, acting, directing, etc. Lully writes music for Moliere’s plays (“A Reluctant Marriage,” “The Princess of Elis,” “The Sicilian” , “Love the Healer”, etc.), plays the roles of Poursonnac in the comedy “Monsieur de Poursonnac” and Mufti in “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”. For a long time he remained an opponent of opera, believing that the French language was unsuitable for this genre, Lully in the early 1670s. radically changed my views. During the period 1672-86. He staged 13 lyrical tragedies at the Royal Academy of Music (including Cadmus and Hermione, Alceste, Theseus, Atys, Armida, Acis and Galatea). It was these works that laid the foundations of French musical theater and determined the type of national opera that dominated France for several decades. “Lully created a national French opera, in which both text and music are combined with national means of expression and tastes and which reflects both the shortcomings and the advantages of French art,” writes German researcher G. Kretschmer.

Lully's style of lyrical tragedy was formed in close connection with the traditions of the French theater of the classical era. The type of large five-act composition with a prologue, the manner of recitation and stage acting, plot sources (ancient Greek mythology, the history of Ancient Rome), ideas and moral problems (conflict between feelings and reason, passion and duty) bring Lully’s operas closer to the tragedies of P. Corneille and J. Racine . No less important is the connection between lyrical tragedy and the traditions of national ballet - large divertissements (dance numbers not related to the plot), solemn processions, processions, festivals, magical scenes, pastoral scenes enhanced the decorative and spectacular qualities of the opera performance. The tradition of introducing ballet that arose during Lully’s time turned out to be extremely stable and was preserved in French opera for several centuries. Lully's influence was felt in the orchestral suites of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. (G. Muffat, I. Fuchs, G. Telemann, etc.). Composed in the spirit of Lully's ballet divertissements, they included French dances and character pieces. Widespread in opera and instrumental music of the 18th century. received a special type of overture, which developed in the lyrical tragedy of Lully (the so-called “French” overture, consisting of a slow, solemn introduction and an energetic, moving main section).

In the second half of the 18th century. the lyrical tragedy of Lully and his followers (M. Charpentier, A. Campra, A. Detouches), and with it the entire style of court opera, becomes the object of heated discussions, parodies, and ridicule (“the war of the buffons,” “the war of the Gluckists and Piccinnists”) . The art that arose during the heyday of absolutism was perceived by the contemporaries of Diderot and Rousseau as dilapidated, lifeless, pompous and pompous. At the same time, Lully’s work, which played a certain role in the formation of a great heroic style in opera, attracted the attention of opera composers (J. F. Rameau, G. F. Handel, K. V. Gluck), who gravitated towards monumentality, pathos, strictly rational, orderly organization of the whole.

A native of Italy, who was destined to glorify French music - such was the fate of Jean-Baptiste Lully. The founder of French lyrical tragedy, he played a key role in the formation of the Royal Academy of Music - the future Grand Opera House.

Giovanni Battista Lulli (this is what the future composer was called at birth) is a native of Florence. His father was a miller, but his origins did not prevent the boy from becoming interested in art. In his childhood, he showed versatile abilities - he danced and acted out comic skits. A certain Franciscan monk mentored him in the art of music, and Giovanni Batista learned to play the guitar and violin perfectly. Luck smiled at him at the age of fourteen: the Duke of Guise drew attention to the talented young musician and took him into his retinue. In France, the musician, now called in the French manner - Jean-Baptiste Lully - became the page of the Princess de Montpensier, the king's sister. His duties included helping her practice Italian and entertaining her by playing musical instruments. At the same time, Lully filled the gaps in musical education - he took singing and composition lessons, mastered the harpsichord, and improved his playing of the violin.

The next stage of his career was work in the “Twenty-Four Violins of the King” orchestra. But Lully conquered his contemporaries not only by playing the violin, he also danced beautifully - so much so that in 1653 the young king wanted Lully to perform with him in the ballet “Night”, staged at court. The acquaintance with the monarch, which took place under such circumstances, allowed him to enlist the support of the king.

Lully was appointed to the position of court composer of instrumental music. His responsibility in this capacity was to create music for ballets that were staged at court. As we have already seen with the example of “Night”, the king himself performed in these productions, and the courtiers did not lag behind His Majesty. Lully himself also danced in performances. The ballets of that era were different from modern ones - along with dancing, they included singing. Initially, Lully was involved only in the instrumental part, but over time he became responsible for the vocal component. He created many ballets - “The Seasons”, “Flora”, “Fine Arts”, “Country Wedding” and others.

At the time when Lully created his ballets, the career of Jean-Baptiste Moliere was developing very successfully. Having made his debut in the French capital in 1658, after five years the playwright was awarded a substantial pension from the king; moreover, the monarch ordered him a play in which he himself could perform as a dancer. This is how the ballet comedy “Reluctant Marriage” was born, ridiculing scholarship and philosophy (the elderly protagonist intends to marry a young girl, but, doubting his decision, turns to educated people for advice - however, none of them can give an intelligible answer to his question ). The music was written by Lully, and Pierre Beauchamp worked on the production along with Moliere and Lully himself. Beginning with “A Reluctant Marriage,” the collaboration with Moliere turned out to be very fruitful: “Georges Dandin,” “The Princess of Elis” and other comedies were created. The most famous joint creation of the playwright and composer was the comedy “The Bourgeois in the Nobility.”

Being Italian by birth, Lully was skeptical about the idea of ​​​​creating a French opera - in his opinion, the French language was not suitable for this native Italian genre. But when the first French opera, Robert Cambert's Pomona, was staged, the king himself approved it, which forced Lully to pay attention to this genre. True, the works that he created were called not operas, but lyrical tragedies, and the first in their series was the tragedy “Cadmus and Hermione,” written on a libretto by Philip Kino. Subsequently, Theseus, Atys, Bellerophon, Phaethon and others were written. Lully's lyrical tragedies consisted of five acts, each of which opened with an extended aria of one of the main characters, and in the further development of the action, recitative scenes alternated with short arias. Lully attached great importance to recitatives, and when creating them, he was guided by the style of declamation inherent in the tragic actors of that time (in particular, the famous actress Marie Chammele). Each act ended with a divertimento and a choral scene. French lyrical tragedy, at the origins of which Lully stood, differed from Italian opera - dancing played no less important role in it than singing. The overtures also differed from the Italian models; they were built according to the “slow-fast-slow” principle. The singers in these performances performed without masks, and another innovation was the introduction of oboes and trumpets into the orchestra.

Lully's creativity is not limited to operas and ballets - he created trios, instrumental arias and other works, including spiritual ones. One of them – Te Deum – played a fatal role in the composer’s fate: while directing its performance, Lully accidentally injured his leg with a trampoline (a cane used to beat rhythm at that time), and the wound caused a fatal illness. The composer died in 1687, before he could complete his last tragedy, Achilles and Polyxena (finished by Pascal Collas, a student of Lully).

Lully's operas enjoyed success until the mid-18th century. Later they disappeared from the scene, but interest in them was revived in the 21st century.

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The genre of French lyrical tragedy is currently known only to a relatively narrow circle of specialists. Meanwhile, works written in this genre were widely known in their time; We should not forget how powerfully the lyrical tragedy had an impact on the subsequent development of musical art. Without understanding its historical role, a full understanding of many phenomena of musical theater is impossible. The purpose of this work is to show the typological features of this genre in the semantic aspect. The semantics of the genre will be considered in connection with the cultural context of France in the 17th-18th centuries. - the time of origin and development of lyrical tragedy.

First of all, let us recall that lyrical tragedy is directed towards mythological material. However, the myth served as the plot basis of the opera at the very beginning of its development. And in this, the creators of lyrical tragedy and Italian opera of the 17th century are united by the desire to create, through the means of musical theater, a kind of fantastic world that rises above everyday reality. If we talk directly about lyrical tragedy, then it turns out to be characterized by a specific interpretation myth. Mythological subjects and images are interpreted in symbolic plan - for example, in the prologue of “Phaeton” by J. Lully, Louis XIV is glorified, while in the very plot of the opera his mythological “analogue” - the sun god Helios - acts. Such an interpretation, of course, was largely due to the connection of the genre of lyrical tragedy with the culture of France during the reign of the “Sun King” (during this period lyrical tragedy experienced its heyday). It is well known that the idea of ​​the absolutization of royal power was reflected in many aspects of the culture of that time, including in music. And yet, reducing the lyrical tragedy only to the idea of ​​glorifying the monarch is hardly legitimate. The tendency towards allegorical interpretation, allegory, permeates a variety of art forms of that time, representing an element of artistic thinking generally.

The figurative system of lyrical tragedy deserves special attention. The world of images of lyrical tragedy appears as an ideal world, existing outside a specific time dimension. It has a fundamentally “monochromatic” character - the variety of semantic shades of reality does not seem to exist for it. The development of the plot itself is predetermined from the beginning - the plot (no matter how complex and confusing it may be) assumes isolation and is oriented towards maintaining a given order and harmony. Therefore, the characters of a lyrical tragedy are endowed with strictly defined traits. The character of the character here has an emphatically “monolithic” character - inconsistency (internal or external) is completely unusual for him. Even at critical points in the development of the plot (scenes from the fifth act in “Armide and Renault” by Lully, or the despair of Theseus in the fifth act of “Hippolytus and Arisia” by J. Rameau, for example), the character of the hero is conceived as a psychologically unified and indivisible complex. In this case, the character appears, as a rule, immediately in all its fullness; its gradual revelation in action is not typical for lyrical tragedy (which distinguishes it, for example, from Gluck’s reform operas). It is clear that the dynamic variability of character, its gradual formation or transformation, which became an integral feature of the interpretation of character in operatic works of later times, is also not typical of it.

As can be seen from all that has been said, such an understanding of character tends more towards its generalized embodiment than towards an individualized one. However, this is quite consistent with both the tendency for a symbolic and allegorical interpretation of myth, and with the desire to present an idealized and sublime world in opera, which was already discussed above. In a broader sense, there is an obvious connection with classicist aesthetics, which influenced the development of lyrical tragedy. As N. Zhirmunskaya notes, “the aesthetic system of classicism is characterized by a tendency towards an abstractly generalized typified embodiment of human passions and characters<…>The rationalistic foundations of the aesthetics of classicism also determined its objective nature, which excluded the arbitrariness of the author’s imagination and minimized the personal element in a poetic work" ( Zhirmunskaya N. Tragedies of Racine // Jean Racine. Tragedies. Novosibirsk, 1977. P. 379).

The described features also predetermined the artistic means used in lyrical tragedy. It turns out to be characterized by exceptional harmony of composition, strictly verified symmetry and balance of dramatic proportions (it is interesting in this regard to remember that Lully began the creation of his works precisely with the development of a plan the whole). This precision is present both at the architectonic level and at the level of composition of a separate act (symmetrical repetitions of choirs or dance numbers, logic of tonal plans, etc.), a separate number (use of a three-part form, rondo form, etc.) . It is not surprising that lyrical tragedies evoked analogies with the architectural monuments of Versailles. However, such analogies should not mislead as to the true nature of the dramaturgy of these works. Thus, V. Konen writes: “Lully acted not as an architect working with musical material, but as a musician, to whom architectonic thinking was deeply characteristic and manifested itself at every stage of the creative process - both in the close-up composition and in the details of the musical language” ( Konen V. The path from Lully to the classical symphony // From Lully to the present day. M., 1967. P. 15).

A similar system of means corresponds to the clearly expressed emotional restraint inherent in lyrical tragedy. The combination of a moderately elevated tone together with a hedonistic attitude of perception was obviously predetermined by the very aesthetics of French art of the period under consideration (in a narrower sense, also by the aesthetics of the aristocratic court art of the reign of Louis XIV). In addition, it was due to the internal genetic connection of lyrical tragedy with the dramatic theater of France in the 17th century. (this connection also had very specific prerequisites. F. Kino, the author of the libretto of Lully’s operas, was a playwright who belonged to the French classical school, Lully himself collaborated with J.B. Moliere). R. Rolland writes that “French tragedy itself led to opera. Its proportionate dialogues, clear division into periods, phrases that respond to each other, noble proportions, and the logic of development called for a musical and rhythmic organization.” The style of lyrical tragedy is filled with “nobility and calm dignity, incompatible with any surprises, loving in its works their unshakable rationality, allowing the depiction only of passions that have passed through the artist’s perception” ( Rolland R. The history of opera in Europe before Lully and Scarlatti. Origins of modern musical theater // Romain Rolland. Musical and historical heritage: First edition. M., 1986. S. 233-234).

The artistic system of lyrical tragedy is distinguished by its amazing completeness - its constituent components are interconnected by the unity of both stylistic and aesthetic order. This allowed her to solve quite complex problems - even when they were generated by historical and local prerequisites. Nevertheless, the isolation of such an artistic system, the impossibility of going beyond certain restrictive limits during development, provided it with a relatively short historical “life”. And at the same time, the impact of lyrical tragedy on the subsequent development of opera was very intense (it was experienced, in particular, by G. Purcell, G. Handel, K. Gluck, W. Mozart) - it preserved this life in the memory of musical art.

The authors of the essay are M. I. Teroganyan, O. T. Leontyeva

If you were faced with posters for the weekly or ten-day repertoire of all the opera houses in the country, in almost every one of them you would find the names of one, two, and possibly three operas written by French composers. In any case, it is difficult to imagine an opera troupe that would not stage Carmen by Georges Bizet or Faust by Charles Gounod. Undoubtedly, these works are included in the golden fund of world opera classics, and time has no power to make their wonderful musical colors fade. Generations of people replace each other, but the popularity of these masterpieces by Bizet and Gounod does not weaken at all.

But, of course, the significance of French opera in the historical process of development of this genre is far from being exhausted by the aforementioned works of Gounod and Bizet. Starting with Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), French culture can rightfully be proud of its many, many composers who left a valuable legacy in the field of musical theater. The best examples of this heritage had a significant influence on the development of other national opera schools.

In April 1659, the play “Pastorale Issy” was staged in Paris. The authors of its music and text are French: Robert Cambert and Pierre Perin. The score of the play has not survived, but a poster has survived, indicating that “Pastoral” was listed as “the first French comedy set to music and presented in France.” A short time later, in 1671, the “Royal Academy of Music” opened with the five-act pastoral “Pomona” by the same authors - Camber and Peren. Louis XIV issues Peren a patent, according to which the latter is in full charge of production at the Academy of Operas. But soon the reins of the Royal Academy of Music passed to Jean Baptiste Lully, a man of great intelligence, inexhaustible energy and comprehensive musical talent. It was his lot that fell to an important historical mission - to become the founder of the French national opera.

Lully's legacy is represented by such musical and theatrical works as Armida, Roland, Bellerophon, Theseus, and Isis. In them, the French operatic art is affirmed as lyrical tragedy (the word “lyrical” in those days meant musical, sung tragedy). The plots of the latter are based on events of ancient history or Greek mythology.

Lully's opera scores contain many heroic and lyrical moments, genre scenes and episodes. The composer has a great sense of the nature of the voice; his solo vocal parts, ensembles, and choirs sound great. It is Lully who owes subsequent generations of French musicians the fact that in their operas the recitative scenes well convey the melodiousness of the French language. Lully is an outstanding master of orchestral writing. His colorful means are diverse, his sound palette is extensive - especially in those cases when the composer turns to depicting pictures of nature.

The next largest figure in the genre of opera after Lully was Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). His “Hippolyte”, “Gallant India”, “Castor and Pollux”, “The Triumph of Hebe”, “Dardanus” and other works continue and develop the traditions of Lully Marked by exquisite taste, they are invariably melodic and brightly theatrical. Ramo pays significant attention to dance scenes. Let us note in passing that no matter how the stylistic features of the French support may change in the future, the element of dance will always play a noticeable role in it.

The opera performances of Rameau, like his predecessor Lully, undoubtedly belonged to significant phenomena in the cultural life of Paris during the time of Louis XV. However, the era, characterized by rapid socio-political development of all layers of the French nation, was not satisfied with traditional artistic ideas and forms. The growing tastes and demands of the Parisian bourgeoisie no longer corresponded to the musical style of the operas of Lully and Rameau with their tragic plots drawn from ancient Greek and biblical myths. The surrounding reality powerfully suggested new images, themes, and plots to music figures. She suggested a new opera genre. Thus, in the middle of the 18th century, the national comic opera was born in France.

Its origins are the cheerful Parisian booths and fair performances. Sharply satirical in their focus, they ridiculed the morals of the ruling classes - the aristocracy, the clergy. Parodies of drama and opera were also created. The authors of this kind of performances willingly used melodies that existed among the people.

The emergence of French comic opera was also influenced by “The Maid and Madam” by G. Pergolesi, which Parisians met in 1752 during a tour of the Italian troupe. Since then, French comic opera has adopted the peculiarity of Italian opera: musical action is interspersed with conversational scenes - interludes.

In the same 1752, when “The Maid and Mistress” was shown in Paris, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote his “The Village Sorcerer”. Not only purely external forms of the comedy genre are used here. “The Village Sorcerer” affirms a fundamentally new type of musical performance: legendary personalities and mythological heroes are replaced on the French opera stage by ordinary people with their everyday interests, joys and sorrows.

Along with J. J. Rousseau, French comic opera owes much to the talent of such composers as E. R. Douny (1709-1775), P. A. Monsigny (1729-1817), F. A. Philidor (1726-1795) and A. E. M. Gretry (1741-1813). In collaboration with P. Lesage, C. Favard, J. F. Marmontel and other librettists, they create excellent examples of national musical comedy. In its evolution, it naturally undergoes significant changes - primarily in terms of the plot. Along with cheerful and exciting intrigue, sensitive, sentimental moods, and sometimes great dramatic feelings, find a place in the libretto of new comic operas. These features are noted, in particular, in “The Deserter” by Monsigny, “Nina, or Crazy in Love” by N. Dalleyrak, and especially by Grétry’s best creation, “Richard the Lionheart”. In these works, the musical features of the romantic opera of the subsequent, 19th century mature.

While the genre of comic opera is developing significantly compared to the first experiments in this field, the spirit of strict classical operas, the themes and style of which are close to the creative school of Gluck, prevails at the Royal Academy of Music. Such are “Tarar” by Antonio Salieri, “Oedipus at Colon” ​​by Antonio Sacchini, “Demophon” by Luigi Cherubini.

In our story about the history of French opera, it is no coincidence that the name of the German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck is named. Shortly before the victory of the French bourgeois revolution of 1789, Paris followed with deep interest the activities of Gluck, who chose the capital of France as the artistic arena where his famous operatic reform was carried out. Gluck was based on a French lyrical tragedy. He, however, abandoned purely decorative luxury, which focused on external effect and was characteristic of the royal ideas of the Lully-Ramo era. All the composer’s aspirations, all his means of expression were subordinated to one goal: to turn opera into a meaningful, naturally and logically developing musical drama. All opera schools, including the French opera house, took advantage of Gluck's high artistic achievements to one degree or another.

The storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) marks the beginning of the revolutionary upheaval in France. All aspects of the country's socio-political life are changing dramatically. However, it is curious that this short era, but full of turbulent events, is not marked by such operatic works that would capture the greatness of events in artistically significant images. The vibrant movement of public life directed the creative efforts of French composers and those who found a second home in France (for example, Luigi Cherubini) in a different direction. A huge number of marches, revolutionary songs are created (among them such masterpieces as “All Forward” and “Carmagnola” by nameless authors, “La Marseillaise” by Rouget de Lisle), choral and orchestral works intended for the audience of streets and squares, for parades and processions, for grandiose national celebrations. At the same time, the opera house does not rise above Grétry’s musical and dramatic performances such as “Offering to Freedom”, “Triumph of the Republic” or “The Republican Chosen”. These works were staged on the stage of the Royal Academy of Music, which by that time had been renamed the National Opera Theatre. In the days when the monarchy collapsed and King Louis XVI was executed, they marked the destruction of the strict style of classicism, dating back to the time of Lully.

The most significant phenomenon of the period described was the genre of “horror and salvation” opera. The social motive in these operas was not significant: a purely love theme with an admixture of naive morality prevailed. The entertaining plot was filled with all sorts of adventures. No matter what troubles befell the hero or heroine - they sometimes came from lower classes - a happy ending always awaited them “at the end.” The innocent victim and good triumphed, the villain and vice were punished.

The spirit of melodrama reigned in the operas of “horror and salvation”; there were many spectacular spectacular moments. Their dramaturgy was built by composers on the contrasting comparison of various stage situations. The characters of the main characters were highlighted and emphasized through musical means. The setting of the action was conveyed as accurately as possible. The romantic spirit intensified, the score was significantly enriched due to the wider use of genres of everyday music - verse songs, romances, marches, melodically close and accessible to the widest range of listeners. The style of “horror and salvation” opera had a positive influence on the subsequent development of not only French, but also world opera art. Burton's "The Horrors of the Monastery" (1790), Grétry's "William Tell" (1791) and Cherubini's "The Lodoiska" (1791) are the first works of this genre. From the series of operas that followed, we highlight “The Cave” by J. F. Lesueur (1793) and “The Water Carrier” (or “Two Days”) by Cherubini (1800).

The years of the consulate and empire of Napoleon Bonaparte (1799-1814) left a noticeable imprint on French musical culture. The Imperial Academy of Music (as the National Opera Theater is now called) stages operas whose content is based primarily on legends, myths or ancient historical events. The tone on stage is high, one performance outshines the other with its pomp and circumstance. Other works are written with the explicit purpose of glorifying the all-powerful Napoleon.

Composers of both the older generation and young ones who are just embarking on an independent creative path work for the Imperial Academy of Music. The best operas of this period are “Semiramide” by S. S. Catel, “Bards” by J. F. Lesueur, and especially “The Vestal” by the Italian G. L. Spontini, the bright theatricality and entertainment of which anticipates the operatic work of D. Meyerbeer.

Performances of the comic opera are staged in two theaters - Feydeau and Favard. E. N. Megul and N. Dalleyrak, N. Ivoir and F. A. Boualdier are successfully creating here. A curious phenomenon should be considered “Joseph in Egypt” by Megul (1807), where there were no love affairs or female characters. With a strict musical style inspired by the biblical legend, the opera contains many lyrically heartfelt pages. Also interesting is the light and graceful “Cinderella” by Izouard (1810). Both operas are different in the combination of their musical and expressive means. Both indicate that the genre of comic opera turned out to be flexible and creatively promising for the development of musical and theatrical art.

The successes of French comic opera of the 19th century. are largely associated with the name of Boieldieu, who created his most significant work during the Bourbon restoration (1814-1830) - “The White Lady” (1825) (the libretto of the opera was written by the famous playwright Eugene Scribe, a constant collaborator of Meyerbeer, Offenbach and a number of other outstanding composers .). The music of the opera is due to Boieldieu's deep understanding of the romantic spirit of the literary source, the author of which was Walter Scott. The author of The White Lady is an excellent opera playwright. Elements of fantasy successfully complement the realistically developing action; The orchestra, soloists and choirs sound excellent. The role of Boieldieu's works is quite large: direct threads go from him to the genre of lyric opera, which established itself on the French stage in the second half of the 19th century.

However, Daniel François Esprit Aubert (1782-1871) managed to achieve the greatest heights in the field of comic opera. The composer penned such an outstanding example of the genre as “Fra Diavolo” (1830). Ober perfectly understands and feels the nature of comic opera. The music of “Fra Diavolo” is light and elegant, melodic and intelligible, filled with gentle humor and lyricism.

Another glorious page in the history of the French opera theater is associated with the name of Aubert. In 1828, the premiere of his “The Mute of Portici” (or “Fenella”) took place on the stage of the Grand Opera Theater, the storyline of which was based on the events associated with the Neapolitan uprising of 1647. Created by the composer just before the revolution of 1830, on the eve of the fall of the Bourbon dynasty, the opera appealed to the excited public mood of those years. Being a work of historical-heroic nature, it prepared, “together” with Rossini’s “William Tell,” the ground for the flowering of the outstanding talent of Giacomo Meyerbeer.

Paris first became acquainted with Meyerbeer's operatic work in 1825, when his Crusader in Egypt was staged at the Grand Opera. Although the work had a certain success with the public, the composer, perfectly aware of the artistic life of Paris, the then musical “capital” of the world, understood that a different operatic style was needed, corresponding to the ideology of the new bourgeois society. The result of Meyerbeer’s thoughts and creative searches was the opera “Robert the Devil” (1831), which made the name of its author a European celebrity. Next, the composer writes “The Huguenots” (1836), then “The Prophet” (1849). It is these works by Meyerbeer that establish the style of the so-called “grand” opera.

Different in plot and ideological orientation, Meyerbeer's operas are united by many common features. First of all, the connection with the direction of romanticism that had become established in European art - literature, painting. Subtly sensing the laws of the theatrical stage, the composer achieves breathtaking entertainment in each case. The action of his operas always develops rapidly, it is full of exciting events; the feelings of the heroes are emphasized, their characters are noble and sublime. The composer’s creative thought is inspired only by people with an interesting, sometimes tragic fate (Robert in “Robert the Devil,” Raoul and Valentina in “The Huguenots,” John of Leiden in “The Prophet”).

Meyerbeer's operatic dramaturgy is based on the technique of contrast - both between acts and within them. Based on an excellent knowledge of the Italian opera school, the composer's vocal style is marked by a widely chanted and clearly expressed melodic beginning. A developed orchestral part is an equal component of Meyerbeer's musical dramaturgy. It is with the help of orchestral sound that the composer sometimes achieves very strong dramatic effects (as an example, let us cite the famous scene of the “Conspiracy and Consecration of Swords” in the fourth act of “The Huguenots”). For more than a quarter of a century, Meyerbeer’s style of “grand” opera was leading in France, influencing both domestic composers and masters of other national schools (in particular, Tchaikovsky’s “The Maid of Orleans” clearly bears traces of the influence of the operatic dramaturgy of Meyerbeer - Scribe).

One of the most striking pages in the history of French musical culture belongs to that significant period associated with lyric opera. Its first classic example is “Faust” by Charles Gounod, which premiered in 1859, that is, in the middle of the 19th century. Over the next decades, the genre of lyric opera dominates French musical theater, ultimately proving to be the most viable from the point of view of the artistic interests of today. There is a long list of composers who worked in this genre. Even longer, of course, is the list of works that followed Faust. “Romeo and Juliet” (1867) by C. Gounod; “The Pearl Fishers” (1863), “Djamile” (1871) and “Carmen” (1875) by J. Bizet; “Beatrice and Benedict” by G. Berlioz (1862); "Mignon" by A. Thomas (1806); “Samson and Delilah” by C. Saint-Saens (1877); “The Tales of Hoffmann” by J. Offenbach (1880); “Lakmé” by L. Delibes (1883); “Manon” (1884) and “Werther” (1886, premiered in 1892) by J. Massenet are the best, most popular examples of French lyric opera.

Even the most cursory acquaintance with the stage heritage of the named composers convinces us that in no case does a creative individuality replicate another. This was due not only to the difference in talents; rather, it is the difference in the ideological and aesthetic views of artists that were not formed at the same time. So, for example, the opera “Werther” was written almost thirteen years later than “Faust”, in a different socio-historical period: 1859 refers to the era of the Second Empire (Napoleon III), 1886, when “Werther” was created, - to the establishment of a bourgeois republic in the country. And yet, “Werther,” like “Faust,” belongs to the genre of lyrical opera.

The genre turned out to be very “capacious” in its own way. It is represented by the same “Faust”, which in its external forms approaches the style of “grand” opera, and the two-act, “chamber” opera “Beatrice and Benedict” by Berlioz; the most poetic "The Tales of Hoffmann" by Offenbach, which was the only operatic opus of the great legislator of French operetta, and a brilliant example of stage realism - "Carmen" by Bizet. If we add to the above that lyrical opera is characterized by the frequent appeal of its authors to the classics of world literature (Goethe, Shakespeare), to oriental themes (“Pearl Seekers”, “Jamile”, “Lakme”), to biblical subjects (“Samson and Delilah"), then in general the phenomenon described will present a motley, contradictory picture.

Let us note, however, the following pattern. French lyric opera, as a rule, moves away from large historical and heroic themes, limiting itself primarily to the sphere of a person’s intimate life. The hypertrophied structures of the “grand” opera, developed choral scenes and ensembles are being replaced by romance, cavatina, ballad, arioso, that is, purely chamber stage forms. When the libretto is based on the greatest creations of world literature - for example, “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare, “Faust”, “Werther” and “Wilhelm Meister” by Goethe - the opera loses its deep philosophical idea, highlighting the love drama .

But these “disadvantages” of the new musical and theatrical genre of French art were compensated by many of its “advantages”. Focusing their attention on the spiritual world of man, the authors of lyrical operas created works marked by genuine sincerity and warmth of feeling. For many of them, in particular Massenet, the portrait characteristics of the heroes received the finest psychological completeness.

In the scores of Gounod and Bizet, Offenbach and Delibes, Thom and Massenet, there are frequent cases of using examples of urban everyday folklore, which made the works of these composers close and understandable to the mass listener.

Special mention should be made about Bizet’s “Carmen”. The rarest truthfulness in conveying complex human feelings and relationships, the power of emotional impact on the audience, the amazing beauty and at the same time amazing clarity of the score, reflecting both wild joy and the tragedy of doom, place Bizet’s opera among the unique works of all world musical literature.

French opera cannot be imagined without “Pelléas et Mélisande” by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) and “The Spanish Hour” by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937).

Debussy is the founder of impressionism in music. His only opera, created at the very beginning of the 20th century. based on the drama of the same name by the symbolist M. Meterliik, fully reflects the aesthetics of this unique movement in art. The opera contains many magnificent discoveries both in the field of harmonic and orchestral colors, and in the field of recitative and declamatory writing. However, hopeless pessimism reigns in it.

Ravel's "The Spanish Hour" is a lyric-comedy opera. Its author's main focus is on the orchestra. With its help, the musical life of the watch workshop, where the action of the opera takes place, is drawn, amazing in its wit and precision of reproduction. As in Ravel’s ballets, these unique “choreographic symphonies,” in “The Spanish Hour” everything is based on entertaining intrigue and an orchestral palette that enchants with its colors. The most important component of musical operatic dramaturgy - widely developed vocal forms - are deliberately relegated to the background by the composer, giving way to the recitative-declamatory style of vocal writing.

This is the brief history of French opera from the mid-17th to the beginning of the 20th century.

After Debussy and Ravel, French musical theater has a relatively small number of new works that have left a noticeable mark on the art of our days. The Paris Grand Opera turned to modern music in a long series of ballets, plot and divertissement, which continued the famous French ballet tradition. In the field of opera there is no such abundance of rehearsal works, although modern French opera was created through the efforts of such significant composers as A. Honegger, F. Poulenc, D. Milhaud, A. Coge and others.

The first modern French composer working in the operatic genre should be named Darius Milhaud (1892-1974). The picture of his operatic creativity is rich and colorful. He wrote 15 operas and five major stage works in other genres. One of Milhaud's first theatrical experiences was the music for Aeschylus's Oresteia, translated by P. Claudel. But only the first part of the trilogy, “The Eumenides,” turned out to be a real opera. “Agamemnon” and “Choephori” have the character of original oratorios with a rhythmic part of a speaking choir in combination with variously differentiated percussion instruments (this technique was later skillfully developed by K. Orff).

Milhaud's second experience in the genre of opera-oratorio was “Christopher Columbus” (1930). This is a grandiose composition of twenty-seven scenes in two acts. Throughout the entire action, the reader reads the “book of history,” and the choirs located in the auditorium comment on it. Columbus is also in the chorus, as a witness to his own life. An indispensable condition for the production is a movie screen, where real exotic landscapes and real sea storms are shown, which are narrated by the narrator.

The American theme continued to excite Milhaud even after Columbus. In 1932, a performance of his new opera “Maximilian” based on Franz Worfel’s drama “Juarez and Maximilian” took place in Paris, and in 1943 Milhaud wrote the opera “Bolivar” (based on the drama by J. Superviel). Both works, related in theme and material (the struggle of Latin American peoples against colonization and their internal revolutionary struggle), in some ways resemble the operas of Meyerbeer - Scribe, namely in their “popular interpretation of the historical plot... in the style of lithographs for the people.”

On the eve of the Second World War, Milhaud's opera "Esther of Carpentras" was staged at the Opéra-Comique of Paris, and "Medea" was staged at the Grand Opera two weeks before the occupation.

The only major work for musical theater in Milhaud's post-war work is the opera David (1925-1954), staged in Jerusalem, translated into Hebrew, on the occasion of the 3000th anniversary of the city of Jerusalem. This is a mystery opera in five acts based on a famous biblical story (libretto by Armand Lunel). Epicly harsh choruses here alternate with dramatic scenes (David's victory over Absalom) and lyrical episodes (David's lament over the dead Saul and Jonathan).

A major contribution to the opera culture of France in the 20th century. made by the Swiss Arthur Honegger (1892-1955). In his work, stage works of mixed operatic oratorio forms are of great importance: “monumental frescoes” “King David” “Joan of Arc at the stake”, “Dance of the Dead”.

“King David” (1921) - an opera-oratorio for choir, orchestra and reader on a biblical plot (the same as in the above-mentioned Milhaud opera). Honegger interprets the biblical legend in the tradition of Bach's Gospel "Passion" and Handel's oratorio with their predominantly biblical subjects.

“Judith” (1925), a biblical drama with a text by R. Morax, continues and develops the operatic oratorio form of “King David”, but is closer to the opera (there is no reader and speech dialogues; the second edition of the work has the subtitle “Opera seria”).

Honegger's third stage work is the opera Antigone based on a text by Jean Cocteau (1927), which premiered at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 1943. Like Antigone by J. Anouilh, the opera became an anti-fascist manifestation of the Popular Front during the occupation. Honegger and Cocteau followed the path of modernizing the plot, form, and ideological concept of the ancient tragedy, in contrast to the tendencies of stylization that found expression in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex (also a text by Cocteau, 1927) and Antigone by C. Orff (1949).

Honegger’s next dramatic oratorio, “Joan of Arc at the stake,” which is central in its significance, was created in collaboration with the largest modern French playwright P. Claudel (1938). The authors called this work a mystery, referring to the religious and secular performances that were played out at squares of French cities in the Middle Ages.

The composition of “Joan of Arc at the stake” is very original. The main role is played by a dramatic actress. The heroine does not really participate in the choral folk scenes: these are her memories, impressions of the recent past. Events follow chronologically in reverse order. Joan tied to a pole, at whose feet the bonfire of the Inquisition has already been built, hears the cries of the excited crowd who had gathered to watch the burning of the “witch,” mentally reproduces the meeting of the church court that sentenced her to execution, recalls the coronation in Reims, the rejoicing of the people on the occasion of the victory over the British, and even very distant pictures of her childhood in the village After each new episode of memories, a terrible reality returns: Jeanne, tied to a stake and awaiting execution.

This multifaceted work, rich in contrasts, includes symphonic episodes, bright genre paintings, spoken dialogues, and choruses. The musical material is extremely diverse: here there is music of a high symphonic style (prologue), and stylized dance (in the allegorical scene of playing cards), and diverse developments of folk song melodies (“Trimaso”, “The Bells of Laon”), and Gregorian chant. Characteristic sound symbols often appear and repeat (the howling of a dog, the singing of a nightingale, the ringing of bells, imitation of the braying of a donkey and the bleating of rams). The oratorio contradictorily combines the tragic and the farcical, the historical and the modern. Honegger was particularly concerned with the accessibility and immediacy of the impact of Joan at the Stake. It was intended to be performed in France in 1938 and lived up to its purpose. After the premiere on May 12, 1938 in Basel, the oratorio was performed in dozens of French southern cities, and after the Liberation it was staged at the Paris Grand Opera.

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) became France's most important opera composer in the post-war years. Previously, his interest in musical theater was moderate. In 1947, his burlesque opera “The Breasts of Tiresias” (based on the play by G. Apollinaire) was staged at the Paris Opéra-Comique. Poulenc's music here is full of sincere joy, but this is not the joy of an elegant and light comedy, it is rather grotesque in the spirit of Rabelais. The opera was sung by Denise Duval, who has since become the best performer of the female roles in all three of Poulenc's operas. Her wonderful voice and rare artistic individuality were a kind of measure and model for the composer when he worked on the one-act monologue opera “The Human Voice” and on “Dialogues of the Carmelites.”

“The Human Voice,” based on the text of a dramatic scene by Jean Cocteau, was staged by the Opéra-Comique in 1959. In this one-act opera, a woman, abandoned by her lover, talks about him on the phone for the last time. He is due to get married tomorrow. The conversation is often interrupted. The woman’s excitement and despair grows: she either pretends to be cheerful, or cries and admits that she has already tried to commit suicide. The scene lasts 45 minutes. The composer, as a true master of vocal writing, managed to overcome the danger of the monotony of a long and monologue. The vocal part in the melodic recitative comes from Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, but has something in common with Puccini in the arias.

By order of the Milanese La Scala theater, Poulenc composed in 1953-1956. great opera "Dialogues of the Carmelites". It was staged for the first time on January 26, 1957. After the Italian premiere, it became clear that not a single modern opera since Puccini had such an unconditional success at La Scala, where many new operas were staged in the post-war years (“The Career of a Spendthrift” by Stravinsky, “ Wozzeck" by A. Berg, "The Consul" by Menotti, "David" by Milhaud), which did not receive such an emotional response as Poulenc's opera.

“Dialogues of the Carmelites” is a psychological drama. Its theme is the internal mental struggle, the personal choice of a person placed in a critical situation: a theme well known from modern drama, relevant and natural in our time. A special problem here is the choice of specific historical material - an episode from the time of the French Revolution of 1789 (the execution of sixteen Carmelite nuns of the Compiegne Monastery, guillotined by the verdict of the revolutionary tribunal). J. Bernanos’s play “Innate Fear” was written on this plot, which Poulenc used and reworked. This is not an epic work about the Great Revolution, but a lyrical and psychological drama on a religious and ethical theme. There is neither denial nor affirmation of revolutionary ideas, there is no assessment of the historical event. A narrow situation is taken, the consequences of social upheavals are shown for a small group of people who, due to circumstances beyond their control, were forced by frequent life choices and faced with the need to make a fatal decision. For modern, especially French, dramaturgy, such a scheme of dramatic conflict, as already said, is typical. But “Dialogues of the Carmelites” also has its own original feature: if in Anouilh’s “Antigone” and “The Lark” the “weak” heroines contrast their “defenseless weakness” and their spiritual strength with violence, tyranny, then the central figure of Poulenc’s opera, the weak creature Blanche , accomplishes a moral feat only “within himself”, defeats only his inner weakness - his “innate fear”. She goes to her death without fear, performs a sacrificial feat out of a human sense of solidarity, loyalty to friendship, at the behest of her conscience, and not out of automatic obedience to the religious idea of ​​martyrdom. Blanche and her friend, the nun Constance, resist the church idea of ​​sacrifice, imbued with inhuman fanaticism, internally from beginning to end. The heart of Blanche, a weak and fearful person of life's struggle, sincerely responds only to human suffering, and not to the abstract idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe "great sacrifice."

Blanche enters a monastery out of fear of life, its anxieties and cruelty. Her spiritual support is faith. But monastic life from the first moment begins to destroy this support; Blanche sees the terrible dying rebellion of the abbess of the monastery against sanctimonious humility and hears her prophecy about the death of the church. Blanche feels the agony of the church, the end of faith, which is already powerless to support and strengthen the troubled soul of a person. However, the nuns took a vow of martyrdom and decided to die “for the cause of faith,” entering into an unfair duel with the revolutionary authorities. The Carmelites are imprisoned and sentenced to death for inciting “in the name of God.” Together with them, Blanche rises to the scaffold, free from adherence to church dogma, but faithful to the law of friendship: she hopes that her self-sacrifice will console at least one person in her dying moment - her friend Constance. The human appearance of Blanche, who accepted death only so as not to “despise herself,” aggravates the painful impression of hopelessness in the immensely gloomy and mournful drama of Bernanos and Poulenc’s opera. Both artists show the human tragedy associated with the fall of the power and authority of faith, and highlight, albeit indirectly, a moment of acute crisis in the history of the Catholic Church, which in itself is very relevant for the modern West, and in particular France. In this work, the greatest sympathy is evoked not by religious fanatics, not by the servants of the faith, but by its “apostates,” hesitant, erring.

Poulenc's opera has a meaningful dedication: "Monteverdi, Mussorgsky and Verdi." In the musical interpretation of speech, Poulenc considers himself a follower not only of Debussy, but also of Mussorgsky. Poulenc associates the thoughtful and strict dramaturgy of his opera with the tradition of Verdi’s “grand” opera. And the entire work as a whole, as Poulenc probably believed, is intended to continue the great operatic tradition begun by the work of Monteverdi, who for the first time gave opera true tragedy, psychologically precise motivations for human actions and clear contours of characters.

Among the current French opera composers, the figure of the Romanian Marcel Mikhailovich (b. 1898), who has lived in Paris since 1919, is noteworthy. This composer’s Peru produced two operas that were especially characteristic in the choice of material for the post-war years: “The Return” (1954) - dedicated to A. Honegger a radio play based on Maupassant’s famous short story “At the Port” (libretto by K. Ruppel), a tragic story of the “returned” and the forgotten, with relevant modern overtones and social-critical motives; and the second is Krapp, or the Last Tape (1960), a one-act opera based on the play by Samuel Beckett.

In 1950, Henri Barrault (b. 1900) completed a heroic tragedy in the operatic genre - “Numancia” based on Cervantes (based on a plot from an ancient story about the struggle of Spain against the power of Rome). In 1951, Emanuel Bondeville (b. 1898) performed the lyrical musical drama “Madame Bovary” (after Flaubert), and in 1954 the opera “The Caprices of Marianne” (after Musset) was staged by Henri Cogé (b. 1901).

It is interesting to note that the popular composer of modern chanson and film music in France, Joseph Cosmas (b. 1905), also wrote a large opera-oratorio “The Weavers” based on a text by J. Gaucheron, which was performed for the first time in 1959 in the German Democratic Republic and only in 1964. staged by the Lyon Theater. The opera-oratorio is dedicated to the history of the Lyon weavers' uprising in 1831. The authors, however, did not seek to create a historical opera, but emphasized the political relevance of the material for modern times. The reader leading the performance speaks on behalf of modernity. The history of the uprising itself is a memoir. The main idea of ​​the work is the need for a revolutionary reorganization of the world by the forces of the working class.

Large choral scenes and vivid song episodes form the basis of this work. Cosma easily connects chanson and choirs with recitative cues from the soloists. The reader's speech part comments on the action. The work provides opportunities for both concert and stage performance.

Jean-Baptiste LULLY in his operas called “tragedie mise en musique” (literally “tragedy set to music”, “tragedy on music”; in Russian musicology the less precise but more euphonious term “lyrical tragedy” is often used), Lully sought to enhance dramatic effects with music and give fidelity to the declamation and dramatic significance to the chorus. Thanks to the brilliance of the production, the effectiveness of the ballet, the merits of the libretto and the music itself, Lully's operas enjoyed great fame in France and Europe and lasted on the stage for about 100 years, influencing the further development of the genre. Under Lully, opera singers began to perform without masks for the first time, women began to dance in ballet on a public stage; trumpets and oboes were introduced into the orchestra for the first time in history, and the overture, unlike the Italian one (allegro, adagio, allegro), took the form grave, allegro, grave. In addition to lyrical tragedies, Lully penned a large number of ballets (ballets de cour), symphonies, trios, violin arias, divertiments, overtures and motets.

There were not many musicians as truly French as this Italian; he alone in France maintained his popularity for a whole century.
R. Rolland

J. B. Lully is one of the largest opera composers of the 17th century, the founder of French musical theater. Lully entered the history of national opera both as the creator of a new genre - lyrical tragedy (as the great mythological opera was called in France), and as an outstanding theatrical figure - it was under his leadership that the Royal Academy of Music became the first and main opera house in France, which later gained worldwide fame called Grand Opera.

Lully was born into a miller's family. The teenager's musical abilities and acting temperament attracted the attention of the Duke of Guise, who c. 1646 took Lully to Paris, assigning him to serve the Princess of Montpensier (sister of King Louis XIV). Having not received a musical education in his homeland, and by the age of 14 he could only sing and play the guitar, Lully studied composition, singing in Paris, and took lessons in playing the harpsichord and his especially beloved violin. The young Italian, who achieved the favor of Louis XIV, made a brilliant career at his court. A talented virtuoso, about whom contemporaries said - “to play the violin like Baptiste”, he soon entered the famous orchestra “24 Violins of the King”, ca. 1656 organized and led his own small orchestra “16 Violins of the King”. In 1653, Lully received the position of "court composer of instrumental music", from 1662 he was already the superintendent of court music, and 10 years later - the owner of a patent for the right to found the Royal Academy of Music in Paris "with lifelong use of this right and its transfer by inheritance to whichever of his sons succeeds him as Superintendent of the King's Music." In 1681, Louis XIV awarded his favorite with letters of nobility and the title of royal advisor-secretary. Having died in Paris, Lully retained his position as the absolute ruler of the musical life of the French capital until the end of his days.

Lully's creativity developed mainly in those genres and forms that were developed and cultivated at the court of the “Sun King”. Before turning to opera, Lully, in the first decades of his service (1650-60), composed instrumental music (suites and divertimentos for string instruments, individual plays and marches for wind instruments, etc.), spiritual works, and music for ballet performances (“Sick Cupid”, “Alsidiana”, “Ballet of Ridicule”, etc.). Constantly participating in court ballets as a composer, director, actor and dancer, Lully mastered the traditions of French dance, its rhythmic intonation and stage features. Collaboration with J. B. Moliere helped the composer enter the world of French theater, feel the national originality of stage speech, acting, directing, etc. Lully writes music for Moliere's plays ("A Reluctant Marriage", "The Princess of Elis", "The Sicilian" , “Love the Healer”, etc.), plays the roles of Poursonnac in the comedy “Monsieur de Poursonnac” and Mufti in “The Bourgeois in the Nobility”. For a long time he remained an opponent of opera, believing that the French language was unsuitable for this genre, Lully in the early 1670s. radically changed my views. During the period 1672-86. He staged 13 lyrical tragedies at the Royal Academy of Music (including Cadmus and Hermione, Alceste, Theseus, Atys, Armida, Acis and Galatea). It was these works that laid the foundations of French musical theater and determined the type of national opera that dominated France for several decades. “Lully created a national French opera, in which both text and music are combined with national means of expression and tastes and which reflects both the shortcomings and the advantages of French art,” writes German researcher G. Kretschmer.

Lully's style of lyrical tragedy was formed in close connection with the traditions of the French theater of the classical era. The type of large five-act composition with a prologue, the manner of recitation and stage acting, plot sources (ancient Greek mythology, the history of Ancient Rome), ideas and moral problems (conflict between feelings and reason, passion and duty) bring Lully’s operas closer to the tragedies of P. Corneille and J. Racine . No less important is the connection between lyrical tragedy and the traditions of national ballet - large divertissements (dance numbers not related to the plot), solemn processions, processions, festivals, magical scenes, pastoral scenes enhanced the decorative and spectacular qualities of the opera performance. The tradition of introducing ballet that arose during Lully’s time turned out to be extremely stable and was preserved in French opera for several centuries. Lully's influence was felt in the orchestral suites of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. (G. Muffat, I. Fuchs, G. Telemann, etc.). Composed in the spirit of Lully's ballet divertissements, they included French dances and character pieces. Widespread in opera and instrumental music of the 18th century. received a special type of overture, which developed in Lully’s lyrical tragedy (the so-called “French” overture, consisting of a slow, solemn introduction and an energetic, moving main section).

In the second half of the 18th century. the lyrical tragedy of Lully and his followers (M. Charpentier, A. Campra, A. Detouches), and with it the entire style of court opera, becomes the object of heated discussions, parodies, and ridicule (“the war of the buffons,” “the war of the Gluckists and Piccinnists”) . The art that arose during the heyday of absolutism was perceived by the contemporaries of Diderot and Rousseau as dilapidated, lifeless, pompous and pompous. At the same time, Lully’s work, which played a certain role in the formation of a great heroic style in opera, attracted the attention of opera composers (J. F. Rameau, G. F. Handel, K. V. Gluck), who gravitated towards monumentality, pathos, strictly rational, orderly organization of the whole.