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Opéra bouffon (French pronunciation: [ɔpeʁa bufɔ̃]) is the French term for the Italian genre of opera buffa (comic opera) performed in 18th-century France, either in the original language or in French translation. It was also applied to original French opéras comiques having Italianate or near-farcical plots.

The term was also later used by Jacques Offenbach for five of his operettas (Orphée aux enfers, Le pont des soupirs, Geneviève de Brabant, Le roman comique [fr] and Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils), and is sometimes confused with the French opéra comique and opéra bouffe.

Notes

1. Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C. (2001). "Opéra bouffon (Fr.)". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.43699. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
2. Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils (Offenbach): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
3. Notably André-Guillaume Contant d'Orville [fr] (Histoire de l'opéra bouffon, Amsterdam 1768, Vol. I and Vol. II) used the term as a synonym for opéra comique (Bartlet).

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• French words and phrases
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