But
if two musical theatres of different kinds exist, one of which pretends
to have the monopoly of great art, while the other with a simpler and
more intimate character seeks only to please, it is always the latter
that has a better chance of development and of making new discoveries;
for the first is oppressed by traditions that become ever stiffer and
more pedantic, while the other with its simplicity and lack of
pretension is able to accommodate itself to any manner of life. How many
artists have revolutionised their times while they were merely looked
upon as people who amused! Frescobaldi and Philipp Emanuel Bach brought
fresh life to art, but were scorned by the so-called representatives of
fine art; Mozart's _opere buffe_ have more of truth and life in them
than his _opere serie_; and there is as much dramatic power in an
_opera-comique_ like _Carmen_ as in all the repertory of grand Opera
to-day. And so the Opera-Comique theatre has become the home of the
boldest experiments in musical drama. The most daring or the most
violent ventures into musical realism, after the manner of Charpentier
or Bruneau, and the subtle fantasies of a delicate art of dreams, like
that of Debussy, have found a welcome there.
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