1A French comic opera, with dialogue in recitative and characters drawn from everyday life.
‘the libretto for Offenbach's opéra bouffe’
‘At the other end of the spectrum from Meyerbeer, and aimed directly at the audience of the Exhibitions, was the opéra bouffe of the German-Jewish composer, Jacques Offenbach.’
‘Le Testament de la Tante Caroline (‘Aunt Caroline's Will’, 1932-3; staged 1936), a bawdy opéra bouffe, was popular in France though not elsewhere.’