Nineteenth-Century Grand Opera Outside Paris

International conference 10-12 December 2014

Grand opera was arguably one of the most significant musical developments of the 1830s and 1840s, both as a local Parisian, and an international, indeed almost global, phenomenon.

In the opening paragraph of his introductory chapter to The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera, David Charlton draws immediate attention to the international frame of reference, which should guide our interest in grand opera. He writes: "There is no more astonishing evidence of the power of grand opera than A Life for the Tsar, first given at Skt. Petersburg in 1836".

This CEMES conference seeks to address questions pertaining to the 'extra-Parisian' histories of grand opera in the Nineteenth Century.