<P> French opera was now established as a distinct genre . Though influenced by Italian models, tragédie en musique increasingly diverged from the form then dominating Italy, opera seria . French audiences disliked the castrato singers who were extremely popular in the rest of Europe, preferring their male heroes to be sung by the haute - contre, a particularly high tenor voice . Dramatic recitative was at the heart of Lullian opera, whereas in Italy recitative had dwindled to a perfunctory form known as secco, where the voice was accompanied only by the continuo . Likewise, the choruses and dances that were such a feature of French works played little or no part in opera seria . Arguments over the respective merits of French and Italian music dominated criticism throughout the following century, until Gluck arrived in Paris and effectively fused the two traditions in a new synthesis . </P> <P> Lully had not guaranteed his supremacy as the leading French opera composer through his musical talents alone . In fact, he had used his friendship with King Louis to secure a virtual monopoly on the public performance of stage music . It was only after Lully's death that other opera composers emerged from his shadow . The most noteworthy was probably Marc - Antoine Charpentier, whose sole tragédie en musique, Médée, appeared in Paris in 1693 to a decidedly mixed reception . Lully's supporters were dismayed at Charpentier's inclusion of Italian elements in his opera, particularly the rich and dissonant harmony the composer had learned from his teacher Carissimi in Rome . Nevertheless, Médée has been acclaimed as "arguably the finest French opera of the 17th century". </P> <P> Other composers tried their hand at tragédie en musique in the years following Lully's death, including Marin Marais (Alcyone, 1703), Destouches (Télémaque, 1714) and André Campra (Tancrède, 1702; Idomenée, 1712). Campra also invented a new, lighter genre: the opéra - ballet . As the name suggests, opéra - ballet contained even more dance music than the tragédie en musique . The subject matter was generally far less elevated too; the plots were not necessarily derived from Classical mythology and even allowed for the comic elements which Lully had excluded from the tragédie en musique after Thésée (1675). The opéra - ballet consisted of a prologue followed by a number of self - contained acts (also known as entrées), often loosely grouped round a single theme . The individual acts could also be performed independently, in which case they were known as actes de ballet . Campra's first work in the form, L'Europe galante ("Europe in Love") of 1697, is a good example of the genre . Each of its four acts is set in a different European country (France, Spain, Italy and Turkey) and features ordinary middle - class characters . Opéra - ballet continued to be a tremendously popular form for the rest of the Baroque period . Another popular genre of the era was the pastorale héroïque, the first example of which was Lully's last completed opera Acis et Galatée (1686). The pastorale héroïque usually drew on Classical subject matter associated with pastoral poetry and was in three acts, rather than the five of the tragédie en musique . Around this time, some composers also experimented at writing the first French comic operas, a good example being Mouret's Les amours de Ragonde (1714). </P> <P> Jean - Philippe Rameau was the most important opera composer to appear in France after Lully . He was also a highly controversial figure and his operas were subject to attacks by both the defenders of the French, Lullian tradition and the champions of Italian music . Rameau was almost fifty when he composed his first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie, in 1733 . Until that point, his reputation had mainly rested on his works on music theory . Hippolyte caused an immediate stir . Some members of the audience, like Campra, were struck by its incredible richness of invention . Others, led by the supporters of Lully, found Rameau's use of unusual harmonies and dissonance perplexing and reacted with horror . The war of words between the "Lullistes" and the "Ramistes" continued to rage for the rest of the decade . Rameau made little attempt to create new genres; instead he took existing forms and innovated from within using a musical language of great originality . He was a prolific composer, writing five tragédies en musique, six opéra - ballets, numerous pastorales héroïques and actes de ballets as well as two comic operas, and often revising his works several times until they bore little resemblance to their original versions . By 1745, Rameau had won acceptance as the official court composer, but a new controversy broke out in the 1750s . This was the so - called Querelle des Bouffons, in which supporters of Italian opera, such as the philosopher and musician Jean - Jacques Rousseau, accused Rameau of being an old - fashioned, establishment figure . The "anti-nationalists" (as they were sometimes known) rejected Rameau's style, which they felt was too precious and too distanced from emotional expression, in favour of what they saw as the simplicity and "naturalness" of the Italian opera buffa, best represented by Pergolesi's La serva padrona . Their arguments would exert a great deal of influence over French opera in the second half of the eighteenth century, particularly over the emerging form known as opéra comique . </P>

Who is considered the father of french opera