Opera in Crisis? Revealing the Cultural and Political Impact of French Fourth Republic Opera, 1945-1958

Abstract

France in 1945 was reeling from the destruction wrought by the Second World War. As the Fourth Republic was formed, the new constitution made it clear that culture was a right of all French citizens. Further, culture was widely understood as a means of reestablishing French identity and global cultural prominance. Yet, critics proclaimed that French opera—one of the most central musical traditions of France—was in a state of crisis and stagnation. This narrative has largely persisted, maintaining that opera in France after the war lacked innovation, relevance, and cultural-political commentary.

My dissertation reveals that this is a mischaracterization of the operatic genre during the Fourth Republic. The operatic field, far from being stagnant, produced works with daring political messages that could not be presented freely elsewhere during the mounting tensions of the Cold and colonial wars. Opera was a vital site of contestation and of national memory- making that did not merely reflect French culture and politics but also influenced them and French identity. However, this reality has been unexplored in Fourth Republic operatic scholarship. Too often the narrative of crisis has been accepted uncritically and it has obscured understanding of these works and the remarkable survival of French operatic houses.

I examine the two major opera houses in Paris (the Palais Garnier and the Opéra-Comique known as the Réunion des Théâtres Lyriques Nationaux or RTLN), and three houses in the provinces in Rouen, Strasbourg, and Marseille (each of which had a different relationship to state-sponsored operatic decentralization), and provide close analysis of several works performed at these houses: for example, Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Tailleferre’s Il était un petit navire, Milhaud’s Bolivar, an important restaging of Gounod’s Faust, and a revival of Rameau’s Indes galantes. By doing so, I re-contextualize the triumphs, and so-called failings, of the RTLN and the operatic decentralization plan and argue that political motivations were often the impetus behind critiques of these houses and their repertoire. These criticisms influenced these operas’ reputations and these operas have been remembered as less innovative musical works because of this bias. However, studying these works has revealed their musical interest, the tenacity of the houses that produced them, and the relationship between the opera houses and the government that both supported and subverted government desires for the operatic genre. The French government viewed this repertoire as central to the reformation of French identity and the assertion of French cultural prestige, as records of correspondence and political debates have amply shown.

Yet, many of the works this dissertation considers, like Milhaud’s Bolivar, presented messages (such as anti-colonialism) shockingly out of alignment with the current governments. Other works, like the revival of Rameau’s Indes galantes, clearly and carefully reinforced the current political climate, while also offering a compelling image of French greatness and nostalgia to audiences. While the Fourth Republic was an incredibly challenging time for the operatic genre, innovators within the field were able to prevent a true operatic crisis. The operatic genre was a dynamic field where composers, artists, and musicians could support or contest the government’s attempts to control opera, contribute to France’s international reputation, and create operatic works engaged with the musical and cultural climate within which they worked.