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Opéra comique
French - Early 18th till 20th century
Comic opera with themes ranging from light to serious and tragic. Contains spoken dialogue, recitatives and arias.
Tradition developed from popular early 18th century comédies en vaudevilles and lasted into 20th century with many changes in style. Closely associated with works written for the Paris Opéra-Comique.
An early form (mid 18th century) was called "Comédie mêlée d'ariettes", a comedy mixed with brief arias.

Notable composers: Gluck, Grétry, Bizet, Berlioz, Boieldieu, Auber
Operas
La fille du régiment (Donizetti) FR - 1840 2*
Carmen (Bizet) FR - 1875 3*
Lakmé (Delibes) FR - 1883 2*
Composers
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) 3*
Georges Bizet (1838-1875) 3*
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) 2*
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) 1*
Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842) 1*
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) 1*
Léo Delibes (1836-1891) 1*
François-André Danican Philidor (1726-1795)
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (1729-1817)
Nicolas Isouard (1775-1818)
François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775-1834)
Adolphe Adam (1803-1856)
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
Émile Paladilhe (1844-1926)
Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
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