Abstract
Among the educated class of late 17th century France, opinion on the new musical genre of opera was divided. In this article, by considering I'Opera, a book written by Saint-Evremond, who was the first person to substantively comment on opera, I examine the attitude towards opera in Lully's era. Although Saint-Evremond's life centered on the music of the court and the salons, and he had received some education in the harpsichord and composition, he denounced the new spectacle of opera as lacking in "spirituality" and "truthfulness", and asserted that it violated the standards of French classical beauty. He criticized opera as a genre, and his praise of Lully, who was the foremost composer at Versailles, for this reason was not inconsistent.
