Music

Encouraged by technological advances, the French infatuation with music covers a wide range of styles. The population’s musical tastes are more diversified than they were formerly. The French techno scene (Laurent Garnier, Daft Punk) is a great success internationally, while French singers do not restrict themselves to popular songs, even though these remain a very successful category.

All musical styles, from the most traditional to the most popular, such as rock, popular music, raï or rap, are encouraged by the state, which likewise supports a wide range of institutions from the Baroque Music Centre in Versailles, to the Centre National du Patrimoine de la Chanson, des Variétés et des Musiques actuelles (National Heritage Centre for Song, Variety and Contemporary Music), the National Jazz Orchestra (ONJ) and the Rock and Popular Music Centre. The works of Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis and Henri Dutilleux have won new audiences over to contemporary classical music, a genre that is being developed at the Institute for Music/Acoustic Research and Coordination (IRCAM). The Ensemble Intercontemporain orchestra promotes this repertoire of twentieth-century works through its tours of France and foreign countries.

Opera has also benefited from government backing these past years. The Opéra Bastille in Paris, which opened in 1988, is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and its main concert hall has a capacity of 2,700. The Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (Toulouse Capitol National Orchestra), that of Lille and the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra have acquired an international reputation. In Paris, the Opéra-Comique is dedicated to the French operetta repertoire while the Châtelet Theatre, formerly the mecca of light opera, now alternates recitals, concerts and operas and the Palais Garnier (National Paris Opera) tends to specialize in dance. In the provinces, mention should be made of the Théâtre Français de la Musique (French Music Theatre) in Compiègne, which is making a name for itself as a standard-bearer of the French operatic heritage. The Operas of Lyon, Toulouse, Rouen, Nantes, etc., continue to stage high-quality productions.