The first performances of Amadis de Gaule

After receiving the libretto for Amadis, Johann Christian Bach stayed for long enough in Paris to get to know the style and conventions of French opera, the singers of the company and the workings of the Académie Royale de Musique, alias the Paris Opéra. The latter was then the most renowned opera company in Europe, housed at that time in the magnificent Salle du Palais-Royal, later destroyed by fire (1781). There several dozen artists – singers, dancers and musicians –went about their daily activities throughout the year.