French music
Akébar roi du Mogol may be the first French opera. It was first performed in
the year 1646. It was followed by the team of Cambert and Pierre Perrin. His
Pastoral in Music was a huge success. They performed it in Issy. The pair then
shifted to Paris and produced Les Peines et les Plaisirs de l'Amour (1672) and
Pomone (1671).
For composing ballets for Louis XIVJean-Baptiste Lully had become well-known. He
began creating, what might be referred as, a French version of the Italian opera
seria, it was a tragic opera which was known as tragédie en musique or tragédie
lyrique. The pinnacle of French theatrical tragedy accompanied Lully's forays
into operatic tragedy which was led by Racine and Corneille.
Georges Bizet - the French composer, composed Carmen. It was one of the most popular and well known operas. In remote areas like the island of mountainous Auvergne and Corsica Traditional styles of music have survived most. They have survived as well in the regions of the Bretons and Basques.
Folk traditions have been revived in recent years to cater to tourists in many cases. These groupes folkloriques have the tendency to focus on early 20th century use of the piano accordion and the melodies.