‘Der Lieblingswunsch Meines Lebens’: Contexts and Continuity in Meyerbeer's Opéras Comiques

This chapter shows that Meyerbeer's interest in opera comique was one that lasted throughout his career, and that he developed projects to compose operas comiques for longer than he did to compose grands operas. Opera comique could be heard all over Europe outside Italy, and Meyerbeer's written record of his life in his diaries and correspondence is eloquent testimony to his enthusiasm for the genre from the beginning of his career to the end. Meyerbeer's interest in opera comique was engaged and highly discriminating. Meyerbeer's experience of opera comique before his sojourn in Italy was discriminating, with a strong autodidactic element present in his writing.