Opera on the harpsichord French opera arrangements for keyboard in the 17th and 18th centuries

Since the birth of opera, harpsichordists arranged its most beautiful extracts for the keyboard. This article provides an overview of practices and repertoires, from the initial enthusiasm for Lully to the vogue for comic opera. The second half of the 18th century marked a change of scale and nature in the repertoire of arrangements: publishers and harpsichord masters realised the full economic potential of “derivative works” for the keyboard.