The "keys" provided by the author open the door to understanding the essence of 19th century French lyric theatre. He illuminates the diverse elements that constitute opera by focusing his investigation around three main categories: composition and production; words, music, and drama; and the interaction of society, genre and aesthetics. The author chooses Bizet's "Pearl Fishers" (1863) as the exemplar of French opera that combines tradition and innovation. he uses "Pearl Fishers" as a paradigmatic point of reference for exploring questions of genesis, style, and aesthetic in other 19th century French operatic works. French operas was a social art, he writes, and looping between past and future, between tradition and innovation, it achieved the seemingly impossible union of two antithetical aspects of Romanticism: the taste for theatricality and the desire for intimacy. The voices of contemporary witnesses are heard throughout this book. He makes abundant use of the writings of such musician-critics as Berlioz, Reyer, and Saint-Saens and also draws on the works of many French writers, including Stendhal, Balzac, Baudelaire, and Zola. Illustrations showing costume sketches, scenery, posters, paintings, photographs, and magazine articles are attractive complements to discussions of particular operas. This study, together with Edward Schneider's accessible translation, should be of interest to music scholars and French historians.