The heart and its reasons in french opera in the XIX century

Since 2008 the seminars of the Opéra Comique have studied opera from various perspectives, fostering transdisciplinary exchanges and international views with two lines of research in mind: firstly, the theatre Troupe and staff, secondly, lyrical economy and creation trends. Two projects benefit from an annual renewal: Women’s visibility in lyrical history and Ecology in performing arts.

The heart and its reasons in french opera in the XIX century

Reynaldo Hahn said: “All French operas since Lully have been about love; none of them appears that way.” It may be that politics, morality, censorship, aestheticism, family concepts, representations of the couple, sexuality, marriage or cohabitation ideology, conflicts and sources of rivalry or jealousy overtake opera when it comes to loving impulses… In the XX century, French operatic art is focused on self-fulfilment and the affirmation of desires. But is still struggling with the binding effect of social groups: Carmen bears witness to this. The field of emotions now concerns anthropology, sociology, psychoanalysis, rhetoric. Lets embrace history, musicology and dramaturgy to shine a  new light on how operatic art depicts its all-governing passion for love.