When the audience took their seats in the Théâtre de la rue Saint Pierre on January 2, 1806, in New Orleans, they knew they were embarking upon a French cultural experience.1 The glorious music and highly dramatic prose had come all the way from Paris and would be performed by French musicians and dancers who were experts in a popular operatic style; the costumes and sets evoked the great Parisian theaters. Everything was to satisfy those New Orleans patrons who prided themselves on their appreciation of le bon goût. The performance that evening was of Nicolas Dalayrac's Azémia, ou les sauvages (1787), an especially popular opéra-comique about the triumph of the French against Spanish usurpers. It even included a scene showing the French conquering the New World. What opera could be more apt for a celebration of French strength in Louisiana?The description of the opera's scenery in the published full score gives us a clue as to what the New Orleans audience might have seen. As the overture filled the hall, the curtain rose on an exotic scene, replete with palm trees, tall and rugged cliffs, and a secluded cave nestled in the rock face.2 Unusually, characters were actually shown during the overture entering and exiting the cave, draped in swathes of loose cloth and garlands.3 As the slow, majestic pace of the overture's opening gave way to an energetic second section, dramatic anticipation would have filled the air. Amid the rolling waves at the back of the stage, a canoe floated by carrying a group of men wearing large, feathered headdresses, who then came ashore and began dancing to a familiar passage from Jean Philippe Rameau's famous entrée “Les sauvages,” from Les Indes galantes (1761). The choreography did not suggest the elegance of Parisian balls; instead, the dancers used pantomime, grotesque gestures, and movements meant to characterize a people perceived as alien. Thus, ten minutes before even a single note had been sung, the audience was transported simultaneously to the opera's tropical setting and to the heart of Paris at the Opéra Comique.The reimagining of this Parisian spectacle for New Orleans was made possible, at the end of the eighteenth century, by the entrepreneurial ambitions and steadfast convictions of a few impresarios who had dreamed of establishing Francophone opera companies in the New World. Although they would experience numerous challenges and setbacks, these visionaries opened theaters and programmed opera seasons that delighted audiences, igniting a tradition of French opera in America. In so doing, they left a significant legacy for the future of the performing arts in North America. Henry Kmen's work on the history of the theatrical tradition in New Orleans is foundational as he meticulously traces its development through newspaper advertisements.4 I augment this history by considering newly discovered sources. Although many material objects (sets, costumes, theatrical administrative records, etc.) that are often relied upon to guide our historical understanding have been lost to fire (or, in the case of reviews, were not published at this time), extant newspaper advertisements, letters, and court records shed light on the city's operatic tradition.5 This article considers the birth of French opéra-comique in New Orleans as the blossoming of a tradition that reveals how newly “American” audiences enjoyed familiar entertainments from a land that was simultaneously distant and home. The quintessentially French genre of opéra-comique—and Dalayrac's Azémia, ou les sauvages, in particular—provided a complex mirror of its audience, unintentionally dramatizing societal struggles consistent with contemporary life in Louisiana, thereby revealing the complicated nature of Francophone American identity.In eighteenth-century New Orleans, an intricate mixture of European powers and influences intersected and converged, forming a dynamic sociocultural environment that, in turn, affected societal and artistic traditions. Formally founded in 1718 by French colonists, the city fell under Spanish rule in 1763 following Great Britain's defeat of France in the Seven Years’ War. Although French control of Louisiana was briefly restored in 1800, Napoleon sold these territories to the United States in 1803. This tumultuous century's struggles for colonial control and statehood—involving the French, Spanish, and, eventually, the newly minted Americans—heightened the anxiety around Orleanians’ sense of identity, which was built upon shifting sands. Customs, language, food, and musical entertainments are only some of the facets of life in this port city that were constantly evolving, and I argue that performances of Azémia, ou les sauvages contributed to an attempted reassertion of Francophone identity and tradition. In ways that might at first appear counterintuitive, the popularity of a particular, deeply historicized genre, the opéra-comique, hardly wavered between 1785 and 1810.6 The musical and theatrical traditions imported to New Orleans from France took root and soon became established thanks to the persistence of migrant directors and performers, such as Louis Tabary, Jean Baptiste Fournier, and Louis Douvillier, who reinforced French taste and custom by performing works from the opéra-comique repertory. Using Henry Kmen's detailed history of the founding of the French theaters in New Orleans, this article recounts the origins of these theaters and troupes and discusses newly discovered sources that highlight the volatility that characterized the birth of the opéra-comique in Louisiana and its special role in the territory's culture. Specifically, it presents Dalayrac's Azémia, ou les sauvages as a case study showing how the opéra-comique flourished in Louisiana, despite early difficulties arising from theatrical management. I examine how a Parisian opera that exoticized the Americas, when transplanted in New Orleans, inadvertently prompted an audience of French expatriates to contemplate a staging of their own turbulent social milieu.New Orleans seemed destined to mirror its aristocratic French roots right from the beginning. Named for Philippe II, Duc d'Orléans, at that time the regent for the young Louis XV, the city was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1718 on the traditional land of the Chitimacha.7 Originally settled with just fifty persons (comprising families, enslaved people, and clergy), the colony quickly grew to a population of six thousand.8 There were struggles between French and the particular, with the people of the of the French were highly in the the and established a As of a quickly French the soon all of an from the against in the in an to from the in were to New Orleans to a and a to young In about life in the colony and how Paris it was in and were in the and had French of this to suggest that not so French and have in New Orleans, musical a of had to be established in the rule in Louisiana came to an end in when the was to the Spanish did not a in New Orleans when an in Spanish and attempted to the in the of French and custom was at the of life by a to the In a recounts that, even had been made in the city's and are from the of the in which a many are their are so French, that they have even to Spanish who to so as these of the French The between the city's French and Spanish was deeply and to custom was reinforced by French and in the early the French many French and in to the of the to the of would be In the enslaved people of and quickly control of that people to New Orleans in the a group of and musicians who would be to the of opéra-comique in the This of Francophone people the French of the Spanish the steadfast of its French language, and with the of its quickly complicated its sense of identity, which had to the of the French and a American The of as and have from that of the and became a for those who to to In the eighteenth century, the not only to those in the New to those who were transplanted and their was as a of cultural by time in a in the century, the and and could those and Although French identity became a in and New Orleans, the of an of French theatrical traditions and by impresarios who were in of with This French opéra-comique to in Louisiana at the end of the eighteenth Louisiana was briefly restored to the French in 1800, were to a in the was sold to the United were a in the and the French to themselves from the and New Orleans in and French were it would more for French not to shed their to their and especially in and and for a of traditions American influences to of impresarios and from France and with their in establishing a French opera tradition in New as a even a New Orleans to mirror the and even their was more that, through their and in Louisiana, to an of with themselves as newly minted the to themselves through an of with the of that their was a of their social and and music were to this social in the were theaters in the I Kmen's history of theatrical in New Orleans, it with own to a understanding of the difficulties when and performing in This is to of the performance of Azémia, ou les sauvages, in that the historical the in which these works popularity and us to this popular opera a The first was established on when Louis a French a on la rue Saint The and its were Le de la rue Saint Pierre Le Théâtre de la rue Saint and it was that its New Orleans the Henry and were in the end of that an was made to dancing and for the city's the difficulties were such that the between and this the was in a of and the city to it on following a that it would Théâtre de la rue Saint Pierre was and with great thanks to an of French Jean Baptiste Fournier, in New Orleans, the and to have it not to its of of a was and the city the on The the of the French from especially Louis Tabary, own for a theatrical was 1806, in Le de la that he was to the of the as are to that had been and by the at the end of that and to a of in Le in a of and for directors in New I argue that, from this used the to and theatrical as as to its for and that it was the for advertisements, the for a January 2, 1806, performance of Azémia, ou les sauvages, of the city's French with this to a French opera in New that would the Saint Pierre in The opera was in an to the 1806, of Le which that it was to be its more and in the of in the that he is for and the under which they in not note the that the was published in French and for the French it was sense of audience that prompted to in so as to for the of the Louisiana As as be from the city's extant the was only published by Le that were made the and in the city was when the first The prompted the Théâtre the Orleans which would the city's opera the would to be slow, and the for the was more might have that, at this was as the of the Saint he was performances for patrons the the performances of such as Azémia, have been affected by and all the the Théâtre d'Orléans, a more to the Saint Pierre was of the early to on rue Saint Philippe to be Les and by Fournier, had at the Saint this would as by the of its and which were in Le would was by the for which the European population at from those for people of that were in that theatrical the on la rue Saint Philippe would in way to the of the Théâtre then under in Les wavered that and that a of in Le that this the they on performances and at the Saint as as the for the Théâtre d'Orléans, it is to as that New patrons were in and could not French with patrons would soon highly and in was and he in numerous and with the city as is by court records I discovered that augment Kmen's people were for the as as for As a was from the of the Saint Pierre and, as in of the of in a French by Jean Baptiste at the end of a newly discovered reveals that he for on with Louis Douvillier, a opera and who knew from their performances at the Saint in at this time on la rue Saint and had a on the dancers and musicians in the about for for a and the in Azémia, ou les a in Le that did not to as as to with it the city's for French opera and was New Orleans had a population of around people at this time and, the theaters their audience, it is that companies were to such a performance and seats to I argue that, not its challenges when founding New Orleans was the city for the opéra-comique tradition to the opera companies performance patrons with full the at made a when he nature the of of by what to have been an to on the theaters performances on As the theaters this an published in Le a to its to a to their he when they on the at the he to the he thereby to the of theaters the by theaters this as this time it is more The and the their the is to he not only audience were not of in New Orleans to opera It is to the and the theatrical by to the between for the in a that their of the theaters on the a few more in the early of the directors were to more as they had to When performances were on at would an opera with the the would a French that did not their There a audience, were performers, to French and so the companies were to a few the Théâtre de la rue Saint Philippe became the the end of the their the Saint Pierre and the Saint Philippe were at the of French as by the of performances of the popular Parisian that were and of dancers and to a of works from to The I have which Kmen's performance with works and that the at these theaters in at performances of more opéra-comique was to that of the popular theaters of Paris the eighteenth century, and even to that of the court before the French were the of Nicolas and was by the popular of in Paris between and as many performances as Dalayrac's works became popular between and the second popular at the New Orleans to especially the Azémia, ou les sauvages It was in this to programmed work in a of the performances of in New Orleans for which I have a were at the Saint This is a of that in the the Saint Philippe by a that with Although of operatic performances are not been published in at the the of performances the city's for of the in New Orleans that could be with a of and dancers and a In many the sets were that could be for that a few could their of that a sense of with There were of a more it was such a in New troupes in the American between the Saint was to an of costumes, and even works that were performed during the that be from in Le de la which performances highlight the of a it who performed in which works what they who the musicians and the dancers themselves the musicians were performing in New Orleans around that as is by and in Le It is a that some of the musicians who in the city's were enslaved and had been to the theaters for as shown was the case for musicians in musicians filled at the theaters when especially early As for Louis who had founded the Saint Pierre in was a who had with the French in and at the Théâtre de in before he to would have performed at own in its early more of musicians at the Saint Pierre for that the de not of the from a on at which a mixture of and works were As the he was to a for work during a performances in the of who had to which to for on the in It is to what the musicians their the of the city before it is not to suggest that musicians to and of to opéra-comique was not only by the of the genre by the who established the theaters. In the opening of the Théâtre de la rue Saint Louis in its to performances with and the be of and by by the with on and is in newspaper for the Saint As was in newspaper in New Orleans who were often with and were of French music the of this of spectacle was for an Francophone in The Douvillier, and were all in the theaters of and became on the New Orleans Jean Baptiste a and and Louis would have in were to the of the the case of the performance of Azémia, ou les sauvages, a is in an in Le de la which role in the of the opera's popular The and spectacle that are by this the and the opera as a are what its great in these have reinforced French to by a perceived between the audience and of the works in New Orleans, with theatrical between and Azémia, ou les sauvages at a in the performed in at the court at the was Azémia, ou le The de was a who from The as as from the popularity of In the to the published de of that of the and the of filled with to a which is by the genre of the works which the opera's influences are its of the for a a identity, and the that people are to have for the The is in as as the to in the opera's work was not in its first and was the following in ways to to a popular setting and to the who the at the the was to Azémia, ou les that this might have been to the of and to its with the as the popular French newspaper Le de France the work had to with they were from to the only a The to Rameau's Les Indes and especially to its popular As shown the of was meant to who was with musical As overture even from the entrée “Les in Les Indes from the included the of the the from to the of some and the of the many of the to these the second became popular and was performed many in France as as on an with the European Azémia, ou les sauvages which are with the of and the of an were and have been in an cave for some a for on the a Spanish he sets the to the that the Spanish to and to this from he lost on the the and and are at The not they that been by the their way back to the the and are by people the opera to the then upon the Spanish who to The opera with as the to the of and In the scene, they the on the Spanish to to a Parisian the from the the exotic to the of the and its The is not as a for the of a and of the on the to the French and characters are to to their of their experience could be to which would in the an exotic The Spanish not before the Spanish themselves have been as an this was a contemporary in which the Spanish were as in the early history of which the French to their own by upon those of the opera's triumph is not that of France of the New is that the opera such great in New Orleans, the cultural could hardly have been more The Spanish had Louisiana and were not by the French the were by all of the they in the and the French were to on to their identity in an American the had been In some the opera the of New French in it challenges the city's the opera's characters would have been familiar from and theatrical it is that a between the and the French would have seemed to audiences, to to an is and the The Spanish were the with by the French who as the of their The Spanish the French just as they had an historical France the colony in 1800, just as is to in the the Spanish the to this would not have with New Orleans that their had been to of the city a in which they themselves were as the Although some did to France following the Louisiana French expatriates in Louisiana, they had been in establishing and the of colonial life that is in the of audiences would have their Parisian to the opera's of an even the characters were only characters appear in the overture at the and in when they the Spanish, an that have of the in the from to which the French in with The opera's Spanish, and characters were made an even only the French and their the the group is the only for which the the is is from the by the of the that the opera's overture as as by the of tropical scenery and The is in the score as a with a rock and cave on the right of the and a more rugged on the with and palm In the is a filled with There are the score which are to at musical and the and of these to have been to the in of the the have in the that they and to a The music for the first of this a that a through the the with the to Rameau's from “Les sauvages,” the Rameau's would have been to Parisian audiences and to many as and when the did it was music that to a grotesque It is what were in France New Orleans, the choreography was an of the the is made through in when the people the Spanish who are in the of the The around the Spanish, de at a that and with the In to this the the and by the at the that the this pantomime, the score material in the back to the opera's first of musical in an to the characters a consistent of the and its as was reinforced by the sets and The description of the setting in the score a The of a palm a tropical with which Parisian audience would have had Although are extant of the scenery used in New Orleans, that a was a suggest the with their revealing and of and The first is a of the who the role of in Paris in the that for the opera's first performances in The of the is especially with a the right The of the and are of from the of Parisian The second for the that is from from a the replete with the and As with the it is the French were in New Orleans, the that were at some of in this is the of the characters in the and feathered headdresses, and they what appear to be and on their This of an American people is consistent with for Les Indes galantes and works that the New extant the scene in which with Azémia, and are shown in draped around The Spanish is on the wearing a feathered a and an between and and European the in the are more European is an in a French on the left is as he the Spanish It is this is to it the French as to its a Parisian the could a sense of French in the that they were from the they were to in The was in New Orleans, the audience in to those they as and some of even enslaved The challenges when these characters on in the New a the might appear to have even performing this its complex In an and early between the opera's and contemporary in Louisiana were as especially they were as a evening at the was a work that reinforced the of the Francophone identity and that the French were to in the in New Orleans were consistent with the of French expatriates who had to their identity under Spanish language, the food, and especially music and It was not for a audience at performances to the of French that did not the Spanish in New Orleans at the There are of at the and at the end of that, as of the French colonial New Orleans was in French and the city the that, as a French it New Orleans was the of a that the and the French population as of Louisiana in many ways from the in its societal and the with which a of its population French traditions an of its time as a Spanish and its to an American French identity to a lost through and of and and early French performed this identity and their to it by their traditions the some of were from France an in the their sense of identity relied upon contemporary and such as the entertainments at the Saint Pierre and Saint Philippe opera in New Orleans was to its a of and an a time in identity was highly and entertainments from the were a from the of the New World. the from a French colony to a Spanish to an American and were founded on shifting sands. its the city's opéra-comique—and Azémia, ou les sauvages, in what it meant to be French in New Orleans in the eighteenth and early such as Louis Tabary, Jean Baptiste Fournier, and Louis at the French theaters were established in which the Parisian operatic could its life to a performing arts tradition was The opéra-comique with its of music and became of the city's cultural of French life in New
Elizabeth Rouget (Wed,) studied this question.