Grand opera
Grand opera is a term which is used to describe an opera with continuous music. It is a kind of opera that was popular in the 19th-century. Grand operas are usually divided into four or five acts. There have large casts (many singers taking part) and large orchestras. There is a lot of scenery. The story is dramatic. It is usually a story about a hero from history. The term "Grand Opera" has often been used to describe the Paris Opéra from the late 1820s to around 1850, and sometimes to describe the Paris Opéra itself.
In a broader sense "Grand Opera" can be any large-scale opera from European countries. During the 1830s and 1840s Giacomo Meyerbeer was thought to be the greatest composer of Grand Opera.
Grand Opera Media
Set design by Francesco Bagnara for act 1 of Il crociato in Egitto by Meyerbeer
Meyerbeer Le Prophète set design for the final conflagration by Philippe Chaperon
Le Cid, Massanet, ballet at Le Cid's camp. Set by Rubé, Chaperon and Jambon.
Set design by Philippe Chaperon for act 1 of Aida by Verdi, premiere production 1871 Cairo
Stage design for act 1 of L'étoile du nord by Charles Cambon.
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