The XVIIIth century; its institutions, customs, and costumes France, 1700-1789 . ican costume in * Aline, Queen of Golconda ;after Martin. it was that the contractor, Claude Gruer, succeeded the musicianDestouches, who manaoed the theatre in the name of the Kino*(1730). Gruer was dismissed in the following year, and he was suc-ceeded in turn by Lecomte (1731), under-farmer of excise ; Thuret(1733) ex-captain in the Picardy regiment, and Rebel and Francoeur(1744), directors of music in the Kings household. Each of theseadministrations had increased by about ;^20,ooo the debt, whichamounted to m
The XVIIIth century; its institutions, customs, and costumes France, 1700-1789 . ican costume in * Aline, Queen of Golconda ;after Martin. it was that the contractor, Claude Gruer, succeeded the musicianDestouches, who manaoed the theatre in the name of the Kino*(1730). Gruer was dismissed in the following year, and he was suc-ceeded in turn by Lecomte (1731), under-farmer of excise ; Thuret(1733) ex-captain in the Picardy regiment, and Rebel and Francoeur(1744), directors of music in the Kings household. Each of theseadministrations had increased by about ;^20,ooo the debt, whichamounted to many million francs, and which was never paid off infull. In 1749, the opera was made over to the City of Paris, and theProvost of the Merchants personally undertook the duties of director. 4o8 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. As may be supposed, he soon y(jt tired of fillinj,^ this onerous post,and he leased the theatre to Rebel and Francoeur, who had held itfor the King-. The city found it necessary, in 1767, to resume thesystem of letting the opera by contract, and it was managed by. Fig. 272.—Hallet-drCis (a zephyr) ; after Martin. several directors, all of whom ruined themselves in the two fires (1763 and 1781) which destroyed the Palais-RoyalTheatre and the opera built in its place, scarcely interrupted theperformances which seemed indispensable to the prosperity of thecapital. The financial disasters associated with tlic Ro\al Academy ofMusic had little effect on the popularity of the theatre, in whichmusic and the ballet always received the same enthusiastic welcome. THE THEATRES. 409 In the new house at the Palais-Royal, Gluck and Piccini divided themusical honours, and Noverre effected a complete change in thestyle of the ballets. Moreover, the opera called scria-biiffa, whichwas given alternately with Fiench opera three times a week,
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