ABSTRACT
Opera dominated, starting with the establishment of Auber, followed by a range of operas comiques and Meyerbeer’s ‘grand operas’. New works came principally from the operas comiques tradition, although the nascent ‘grand operas’ of Auber and Meyerbeer also appeared. While relatively few made a lasting impression, Auber’s operas brought French music to a level of prominence unseen since the seventeenth century. While Auber was more immediately popular, Meyerbeer made the more profound impression. Initially, British critics were ambivalent, as they were with much new music; the consensus was that Meyerbeer merged aspects of the German and Italian ‘schools’, both of which he knew intimately. The 1855 visit was a triumph: Meyerbeer appeared at Her Majesty’s Theatre, John Ella’s Musical Union, and was honoured at an exclusive salon concert given by Julius Benedict. In London, Meyerbeer’s consistency – he had no failures after 1847 – was an important factor in his success.
