Opera in the bathroom
Opera in the bathroom
In the nineteenth century, the French state controlled opera and drama theaters, as well as the creative forces that supported them, through various forms of exercise of power. Thanks to a series of licenses, cahiers de charges and other legislative instruments, the various regimes could manage the politics of the theater sector; At the same time, institutions, impresarios, composers and librettists could attempt to bend those forms of exercise of power to their own ends, thus confirming the view that in a given culture there is power everywhere that can be exploited in some way. In the Second Empire, the Opéra was taken over by a group of high-ranking politicians, while legal restrictions on the remaining sectors of French theatre and opera culture slowly began to ease, until the legislation was repealed in 1864. In this context, relatively little is known about the power exercised within culture by the opéra de salon, which established itself around 1850. The opérette and the opéra comique in one act, usually characterized by their small size and the use of spoken dialogue, were used during the Second Empire as a tool for the display of individual power and self-celebration by wealthy Parisians, such as members of the imperial family, bankers and industrialists, who exploited the power exercised by the state over theatrical genres to their advantage. Music and theater became possessions that could be displayed in one's own home, alongside other manifestations of domestic power such as material opulence, art collections, clothing, and bearing. Thanks to its characteristics of mobility and adaptability, the opéra de salon genre gave private individuals the opportunity to install temporary theatres in their salons (many of which were of considerable size) or to rent public spaces — concert halls, architects' studios or the recently opened Néothermes — to show off their financial power and, indirectly, their artistic power through this emerging genre.
61-78
Everist, Mark
54ab6966-73b4-4c0e-b218-80b2927eaeb0
2 December 2023
Everist, Mark
54ab6966-73b4-4c0e-b218-80b2927eaeb0
Everist, Mark
(2023)
Opera in the bathroom.
Chigiana, 52, , [4].
Abstract
In the nineteenth century, the French state controlled opera and drama theaters, as well as the creative forces that supported them, through various forms of exercise of power. Thanks to a series of licenses, cahiers de charges and other legislative instruments, the various regimes could manage the politics of the theater sector; At the same time, institutions, impresarios, composers and librettists could attempt to bend those forms of exercise of power to their own ends, thus confirming the view that in a given culture there is power everywhere that can be exploited in some way. In the Second Empire, the Opéra was taken over by a group of high-ranking politicians, while legal restrictions on the remaining sectors of French theatre and opera culture slowly began to ease, until the legislation was repealed in 1864. In this context, relatively little is known about the power exercised within culture by the opéra de salon, which established itself around 1850. The opérette and the opéra comique in one act, usually characterized by their small size and the use of spoken dialogue, were used during the Second Empire as a tool for the display of individual power and self-celebration by wealthy Parisians, such as members of the imperial family, bankers and industrialists, who exploited the power exercised by the state over theatrical genres to their advantage. Music and theater became possessions that could be displayed in one's own home, alongside other manifestations of domestic power such as material opulence, art collections, clothing, and bearing. Thanks to its characteristics of mobility and adaptability, the opéra de salon genre gave private individuals the opportunity to install temporary theatres in their salons (many of which were of considerable size) or to rent public spaces — concert halls, architects' studios or the recently opened Néothermes — to show off their financial power and, indirectly, their artistic power through this emerging genre.
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Published date: 2 December 2023
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Local EPrints ID: 503274
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503274
ISSN: 0069-3391
PURE UUID: 1714a5f0-1087-40c4-b404-43e8095b0a4f
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Date deposited: 28 Jul 2025 16:33
Last modified: 28 Jul 2025 16:33
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