opéra-comique

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opéra-comique (Fr.). Comic opera. By no means the Fr. equivalent of opera buffa, and it has changed its meaning several times. It now means opera in which there is spoken dialogue, but the subject-matter ought to be light-hearted and treated thus. Beethoven's Fidelio and Bizet's Carmen are technically opéras-comiques but cannot be classified as such.

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