ABSTRACT
Daniel Auber’s grand opera Gustave III was performed at Covent Garden on 13 November 1833, just nine months after its Parisian premiere. This chapter explores the influence grand opera had on London’s theatrical culture, situating its spectacular qualities amidst debates about royal privilege and the declining quality of drama. It demonstrates the creative solutions that were devised by theatre manager Alfred Bunn, librettist James Robinson Planché and composer Thomas Cooke when adapting Gustave to suit local taste and resources. Ultimately, the opera helped to accelerate the collapse of generic and institutional boundaries, which were legitimised ten years later.
