''Opéra-ballet'' (; plural: ''opéras-ballets'') is a genre of French Baroque lyric theatre that was most popular during the 18th century, combining elements of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, "that grew out of the '' ballets à entrées'' of the early seventeenth century".Pitou 1983, p. 278 "''Opéra-ballet''". It differed from the more elevated ''

tragédie en musique Tragédie en musique (, ''musical tragedy''), also known as tragédie lyrique (, ''lyric tragedy''), is a genre of French opera introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully and used by his followers until the second half of the eighteenth century. Operas in ...

'' as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully in several ways. It contained more dance music than the ''tragédie'', and the plots were not necessarily derived from

classical mythology Classical mythology, Greco-Roman mythology, or Greek and Roman mythology is both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception. Along with philosophy and poli ...

and allowed for the comic elements, which Lully had excluded from the ''tragédie en musique'' after ''

Thésée ''Thésée'' (; ) is a ''tragédie en musique'', an early type of French opera, in a prologue and five acts with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. It was first performed on 11 ...

'' (1675). The ''opéra-ballet'' consisted of a prologue followed by a number of self-contained acts (also known as ''entrées''), often loosely grouped around a single theme. The individual acts could also be performed independently, in which case they were known as ''actes de ballet''. The first work in the genre is generally held to be André Campra's ''

L'Europe galante ''L'Europe galante'' (''Galant Europe'') is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra to a French libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte. The opera is regarded as the first opéra-ballet, with the entrées sharing a comm ...

'' ("Europe in Love") of 1697, but ''Les Saisons''Composed by

Pascal Collasse Pascal Collasse (or Colasse) (22 January 1649 (baptised) – 17 July 1709) was a French composer of the Baroque era. Born in Rheims, Collasse became a disciple of Jean-Baptiste Lully during the latter's domination of the French operatic stage ...

and by

Louis Lully Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...

, possibly by also borrowing from the late (that is, Jean-Baptiste) Lully (Pitou 1983, pp. 308–309 "''Les Saisons''"). of 1695 is so typical of the genre that it is mentioned as the most distinctive prototype of this sort of composition, although the latter has a mythological plot. Famous later examples are ''

Les élémens ''Les Élémens'' (''The Elements''), or ''Ballet des élémens'', is an opéra-ballet by the French composers André Cardinal Destouches and Michel Richard Delalande (or de Lalande). It has a prologue and four '' entrées'' (as well as, original ...

'' (1721) by Destouches, ''

Les Indes galantes (French: "The Amorous Indies") is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Louis Fuzelier. It takes the form of an ''opéra-ballet'' with a prologue and (in its final form) four ''entrées'' (acts). Following an allegorical prologue, ...

'' (1735), and ''

Les fêtes d'Hébé ''Les fêtes d'Hébé, ou Les talens lyriques '' (''The Festivities of Hebe, or The Lyric Talents'') is an ''opéra-ballet'' in a prologue and three ''entrées'' (acts) by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The libretto was written by Anto ...

'' (1739) by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Notes

References

* Anthony, James R. (2001). "Opéra-ballet" in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', 2nd edition, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. (hardcover). (eBook). Also a
Oxford Music Online
(subscription required). * Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C. (1992). "Opéra-ballet", vol. 3, pp. 683–684, in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', 4 volumes, edited by Stanley Sadie. New York: Grove. . Also a
Oxford Music Online
(subscription required). * Bellingham, Jane (2002). "opéra-ballet", p. 862, in ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', edited by Alison Latham. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . Also a
Oxford Music Online
(subscription required). * Pitou, Spire (1983). ''The Paris Opéra. An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers – Genesis and Glory, 1671-1715''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. . * Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . Operas-ballet Opera genres Opera terminology {{Ballet-stub