This monumental reference source is devoted to the development of French opera and ballet during the hundred years between the return of the Bourbons to the throne of France following the collapse of the Napoleonic empire and the outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914. Focusing on works performed and personalities active at the Paris Opera during this period, the volume includes a detailed introduction that relates the 19th century history of the Opera to events that took place prior to 1815; the main encyclopedia section covering operas and ballets, singers and dancers, composers and choreographers, librettists and scenarists; also included are three helpful bibliographies.

Within the encyclopedia section, entries are listed alphabetically for ease of location. The narrative development or thematic allegations of the operas and ballets are traced scene by scene or act by act and numerous cross references indicate where additional or related information is available. A bibliography lists all lyric and choreographic works first performed at the Opera between January 1816 and August 1915 and includes information about the creators of the composition, its titles and genre, and the date of its premiere at the Opera. Two subsequent bibliographies offer separate chronologically arranged listings for the lyric and choreographic pieces listed in the first bibliography. A major reference source for 19th-century historians, this work will also be of significant benefit to those involved in the creation and production of ballets and operas today.