ABSTRACT
Theatres and opera houses of the Revolutionary years have been the subject of much study – in particular in recent years, when there has been a scholarly tendency to generate suggestive parallels between the arts and political culture, especially in the application of notions of theatricality to political behaviour. Gretry's writings- aimed, it should be recalled, at a post-Thermidorian audience expressed a general enthusiasm for the aims and broad effects of the Revolution, while reserving criticism for its excesses. Gretry began the Revolutionary years without much alteration in the style he had established with La Caravane du Caire and Richard Coeur de Lion. Pierre le Grand, which was first performed in January 1790 on a libretto by Bouilly, tapped into widespread hopes for the viability of the new limited monarchy. The publication of Gretry's Memoires in 1789 and 1797 provided opportunities to reach a settled assessment of his career.
