Richard Coeur-de-lion (opera) performances by that company by 1910. Another 302 were given at the Théâtre Lyrique between 1856 and 1868. A translated semi-opera version of Sedaine's work "Richard Cœur de lion" was written by John Burgoyne with music by Thomas Linley the elder for the Drury Lane Theatre where it was very successful in 1788. "Richard Cœur-de-lion" played an important role in the development of "opéra comique" in its treatment of a serious, historical subject. It was also one of the first rescue operas. Significantly, one of the chief characters in the most famous rescue opera of all, Beethoven's "Fidelio", is called
Rescue opera to "Fidelio" is Rossini's "Torvaldo e Dorliska" of 1815. Bedřich Smetana's "Dalibor" (1868), which contains no spoken dialogue and which bears marks of Wagnerian influence, has nonetheless been called a rescue opera, in part because of its political themes. Rescue opera was primarily a product of the French Revolution. The social changes of the period meant that opera must now appeal to the masses, and post-aristocratic, patriotic, idealistic themes—such as resistance to oppression, secularism, the political power of individuals and of people working together, and fundamental changes to the status quo—were popular. The Terror influenced stories of fear and imprisonment;