Meyerbeer's le prophete: a parable of politics, faith and transcendence

For a period of close to half a century, French grand opera, as exemplified by the works of Giacomo Meyerbeer and his school, was the preferred form of music for the theatre in most of the civilised world.

During the July Monarchy, French grand operas, with their plots drawn from historical events, tended to be received as metaphors for current political themes.

Meyerbeer's Le Prophète illustrates the complex, contested nature of political meaning during this period.

This opera was set in the context of the emerging liberal historiography pioneered by Jules Michelet, and reactions to it illustrate the manner in which audiences and critics constructed 'meanings' with reference to their personal and collective experience and memories, with grand opera occupying a central role in the period.