<P> Grand opera is a genre of 19th - century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large - scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events . The term is particularly applied (sometimes specifically using in its French language equivalent grand opéra, pronounced (ɡʁɑ̃t ‿ ɔpeˈʁa)) to certain productions of the Paris Opéra from the late 1820s to around 1850;' grand opéra' has sometimes been used to denote the Paris Opéra itself . </P> <P> The term' grand opera' is also used in a broader application in respect of contemporary or later works of similar monumental proportions from France, Germany, Italy and other countries . </P>

French opera with spectacular production elements is called