“Robert le Diable” as a political metaphor of July monarchy

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the political meaning of the opera Robert le Diable by G. Meyerbeer, E. Scribe, G. Delavigne in the context of social and political changes that followed the 1830 July Revolution. Robert le Diable was the first new staging in L’Academie royale de musique after administrative and economic reform. The new government of “illegitimate” King Louis-Philippe and a new administrative system of the Opera whose management was delegated to an entrepreneur were sharply criticized by the legitimistes. They argued that the Bourbons patronized the arts, therefore the Opera flourished, and the deposition of the legitimate King Charles X led to the fact that cultural institutions became effete. Consequently Orleaniste elite considered a luxury setting of Robert le Diable as a way to appease political opposition’s dissatisfaction with new regime. The opera became a success due to the novelty of the music, magnificence and showiness of performance. The authors of the opera and theater administration made every effort to avoid any inflammatory allusions in the text and in the staging. However, contemporaries interpreted it as a political metaphor reflecting the contradictions of the new government which followed both the monarchical and liberal principles.