Verdi e il Théâtre Italien di Parigi (1845-1856).

This dissertation aims to study the privileged but little known relationship between Verdi and the Parisian Théâtre Italien during the period 1845-1856. Through the analysis of a rich documentation, the first part offers a historical account of this relationship, and concentrates on aspects related to the composer’s biography, his theatre artistic policy, copyright legislation, critical debates. The second part focuses on the production and reception of Verdi’s operas. The study of scores and librettos used at the Théâtre Italien allows us to measure the tension created by the discrepancy between the particularities of Verdi’s style and the typically French idea that Italian opera was a theatrical genre without any dramatic quality but full of exemplary vocal melody. This thesis aims at two objectives. On one side, to explain how the relationship between Verdi and the Théâtre Italien influenced the development of the career of the first and the institutional and artistic history of the second. On the other side, to verify how the contact with Verdi’s production questioned or even changed the habits and traditional expectations of the French towards Italian opera.