Opéra bouffon is the French term for the Italian genre of opera buffa ( comic opera) performed in 18th-century France, either in the original language or in French translation. It was also applied to original French opéras comiques having Italianate or near- farcical plots. ^[1]

The term was also later used by Jacques Offenbach for five of his operettas ( Orphée aux enfers, Le pont des soupirs, Geneviève de Brabant, Le roman comique [ fr] and Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils ^[2]), and is sometimes confused with the French opéra comique and opéra bouffe. ^[3]

Notes

References

• Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C.: "Opéra bouffon", in: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie. Volume three, London 1992, p. 685. ISBN  0-333-73432-7.