french opera with spectacular production elements is called grand opera.
french opera with spectacular production elements is called?
grand opera
whittington (opera)









































whittington is an opera (described in the premiere programme as 'a new grand opera bouffe feerie, in four acts and nine tableaux) with music by jacques offenbach, based on the legend of "dick whittington and his cat". it was premiered in a spectacular production at the alhambra theatre, london, on 26 december 1874. "whittington" is the only major work of offenbach to have received its premiere in london, and came between the incidental music for "la haine" and his third version of "geneviève de brabant".









































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whittington (opera)
lully had not guaranteed his supremacy as the leading french opera composer through his musical talents alone. in fact, he had used his friendship with king louis to secure a virtual monopoly on the public performance of stage music. it was only after lully's death that other opera composers emerged from his shadow. the most noteworthy was probably marc-antoine charpentier, whose sole "tragédie en musique", "médée", appeared in paris in 1693 to a decidedly mixed reception. lully's supporters were dismayed at charpentier's inclusion of italian elements in his opera, particularly the rich and dissonant harmony the composer had learned from his teacher carissimi in rome. nevertheless,"médée" has been acclaimed as "arguably the finest french opera of the 17th century".
french opera