The fact that French grand opera as a genre was closely connected to the institution of the Paris Opéra, and, more generally, to the contemporary urban context of Paris, has meant that scholars have often focussed specifically on understanding the phenomenon in relation to the original Parisian context. This introduction, however, argues that French grand opera, precisely because of the status of Paris as a centre of European operatic culture, contributed to a process of cultural Europeanization, as seminal works of the genre achieved European fame, often very rapidly, and were performed, translated, adapted, imitated and parodied around the continent. This is developed as a general argument for the relevance of the various studies of grand opera outside Paris included in the volume.