The repertory of the Paris Opéra, 1789-1799

The chapter provides both synthetic data on the repertory of the Paris Opéra in the period of the French Revolution and a discussion of gate receipts for individual Works. It aims to consider the question of continuity and change in the period by studying such issues as the balance of genres, the place of repertory works in the programming, and the respective success of different works. Some patterns emerge concerning the balance of new productions and existing works, and concerning genres, and support the hypothesis of a change in practice around September 1793, the beginning of the Terror, and July 1794, the beginnings of the «Thermidorian reaction». From a discussion of these issues, I move to a more global consideration of cultural policy in the period, as concerns the Opéra, and of the degree to which the institution controlled its own repertory or was, conversely, subject to extrinstic forces