The nation on stage: Wagner and French opera at the end of the nineteenth century

This dissertation examines the relation between nationalism and French opera from the late 1890s to the First World War. Bringing recent cultural and intellectual history to bear on readings of operas and criticism by Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas, and Vincent d'Indy, I develop a view of operatic life both as it articulated changes in French identity, and as it responded to anti-German nationalism, anti-Semitism, religious reform, and developments in historicism. In addition to thickening a description of fin-de-siècle opera and politics, I highlight tensions between composers' distrust of Wagner's legacy and their appreciation of his nationalism as a model for their own.;The introductory chapter examines the impact of Bayreuth and Parsifal on French nationalism. Chapter 2 focuses on d'Indy's opera Fervaal, in which the composer juxtaposed references to Parsifal with quotations of plainchant; this matched his theoretical contention that by accepting Wagner's influence and reviving ancient Catholic music he would assure a rebirth of the French operatic repertory. In Chapter 3, I discuss the editorial and critical contributions of Debussy, Dukas, and d'Indy to the revival of Rameau. Examples from editions of Les Indes galantes and performances of Hippolyte et Aricie reveal correspondences between ideals of historical authenticity and classical revival, and contemporary perceptions of Wagner.;The second part of the dissertation investigates the impact of the Dreyfus Affair on French opera. In Chapter 4, I explore suggestive political references and musical quotations in Dukas's Ariane et Barbe-Bleue. In the final chapter, I discuss Catholic imagery and anti-Semitic representation in the music and costumes of d'Indy's La Légende de Saint Christophe . Drawing on critical constructions of Bayreuth as a theater, church, and national museum, I interpret d'Indy's nationalism as an extreme example of the tendency to combine politics, art, and Wagnerism in French opera before the First World War.