[Ralph P. Locke]

The distinguished French publisher Fayard has just released the first of an eventual three volumes that will make up a Histoire de l’opéra français. It’s actually volume 2, subtitled “Du Consulat aux débuts de la IIIe République.” The entire enterprise is edited by Hervé Lacombe (the renowned authority on Bizet and on opéra-comique), with a three-person Comité scientifique consisting of Joël-Marie Fauquet, Isabelle Moindrot, and Jean-Claude Yon.

Volume 2 is an astounding 1264 pages long, printed in an elegant typeface on somewhat thin paper to prevent it from becoming impossibly heavy.The volume is divided into 20 chapters, each of which is, in turn, divided into five or so shorter chapters. Dozens of authors contributed, sometimes writing just a single “sub”-chapter, sometimes several.

The chapter authors include Lacombe and the other three editors, plus such notable specialists as Olivier Bara, Jean-Christophe Branger, Gérard Condé, Mark Everist, Annegret Fauser, Sarah Hibberd, Steven Huebner, Arnold Jacobshagen, Jann Pasler, Julian Rushton, Herbert Schneider, and Lesley A. Wright.The topics range from surveys of specific genres and sub-genres to conventions within librettos, responses of contemporary music critics, and the place of opera excerpts in symphonic concerts.

I am particularly keen to draw attention to the book. I worry a bit that it will not get as many reviews as it deserves, because its range is so broad and the topics it addresses are so varied.

According to amazon.fr, the volume is available for 39 Euros and, as a Kindle, a bit less than that: https://www.amazon.fr/Histoire-fran%C3%A7ais-Consulat-R%C3%A9publique-Musique-ebook/dp/B08JV9X2X7/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_fr_FR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=histoire+de+l%27opera+francais&qid=1602348968&sr=8-1

Here\’s the page at the Fayard site–alas, not providing a table of contents, nor a list of contributors.https://www.fayard.fr/musique/histoire-de-lopera-francais-du-consulat-aux-debuts-de-la-iiieme-republique-9782213709567I imagine it will soon become available in North America and elsewhere, at a similarly reasonable price.

Best,

Ralph Locke (author of chapters 17.3, 17.4, and 17.5, dealing with exoticism in numerous operas, serious or light)

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