Opéra comique

Opéra comique
(OE- prah koe-MEEK)

French comic opera that is not necessarily sung throughout. The early opéra comique had spoken dialogue interspersed with songs, and was mainly comic, the later ones (those written around the late 19th century) usually had continuous music, and was not necessarily humorous (for example, Bizet's Carmen).

See also [Eng.] Comic Opera; [It.] Opera Buffa; [Eng.] Ballad Opera; [Ger.] Singspiel.

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