Opéra-Comique Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Opéra-Comique is an opera house in Paris.The Opéra-Comique company was established in 1714 to offer French opera as an alternative to Italian opera that then dominated the continent. Productions at the Opéra-Comique distinguished from those at the Opéra by their less formal requirements. French "opéra comique", in the 19th century at least, did not have to be comic; the term covered a much wider category of work.
Notable composers in the history of Opéra-Comique include Auber, Halévy, Berlioz and Bizet. Opéra-Comique first staged Gounod's Faust and Bizet's Carmen.
Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust received its ill-fated première on 6 December 1846 at the Opéra-Comique. It was one of the worst setbacks in his career, leaving him heavily in debt and profoundly affecting his attitude to the performance of his music in Paris.