The French baroque Opera

 17th century

In 1570, in the Académie de Poésie et de Musique de Paris, was born a new operatic genre - the Ballet de Cour, where the dramatic action marked by the poetic idea of dancing joins the opulent costumes, the scenarios and the music.

The Lully Operas began with the typical French opening: a slow majestic start, with an incisive and punctuated rhythm, leading into a faster section with the use of imitation. After, there were one or more dances, or even a repetition of the initial section marked by the poetic idea.

As part of the French opera from this period appeared the ballet: a spectacular sequence of dances with rich fantasies and magnificent scenarios, from which the King himself was frequently part of.

The Comédie-ballet, a comical equivalent to the Ballet de Cour, emerged as a theatrical genre after the presentation in 1664 of La princesse d'Élide and, four years later, of Le bourgeois gentilhomme, both by Molière and Lully.