Opéra féerie

Opéra féerie (plural, opéras féeries) is a French genre of opera or opéra-ballet based on fairy tales, often with elements of magic in their stories. Popular in the 18th century, from the time of Jean-Philippe Rameau onwards, the form reached its culmination with works such as La belle au bois dormant by Michele Carafa and Cendrillon by Nicolas Isouard at the beginning of the 19th century.

The distantly related English genre of "fairy opera" includes Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe. Earlier in the 19th century, James Planché had popularised the "fairy comedy".

The German genre of Märchenoper (fairy-tale opera), though similar in subject matter, has its roots in Italian opera.^[1]

Examples

• Zémire et Azor, music by André Grétry (1771)
• Cendrillon (1810) and Aladin ou la Lampe merveilleuse (1822), music by Nicolas Isouard, libretti by Charles-Guillaume Étienne
• Zirphile et fleur de myrte ou cent ans en un jour, music by Charles Simon Catel, libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy and Nicolas Lefebvre (1818)
• Le cheval de bronze, music by Daniel Auber (1835)
• La fée aux roses, libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Eugène Scribe, music by Fromental Halévy, Paris, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique (1849)
• La chatte blanche by the Frères Cogniard (1852)
• Les amours du diable, by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, music by Albert Grisar, Paris, Théâtre Lyrique (1853)
• Le roi Carotte (1872) and Le voyage dans la lune (1875), music by Jacques Offenbach (the latter in collaboration with Victorien Sardou)

References

1. ↑
   • Millington, Barry: 'Märchenoper' in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7

Sources

• Bartlet, M Elizabeth C: Opéra féerie in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7