Offenbach, Jacques

Offenbach - Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) / Pretre, Domingo, Royal Opera Covent Garden

This is as good a video of the traditional Tales of Hoffmann as we are ever likely to see. It alters the material Offenbach left when he died, but it is the Hoffmann that audiences have loved for decades in a brilliant all-star production. Plácido Domingo is vocally resplendent and theatrically convincing as the poet Hoffmann enduring one amorous disappointment after another. He is supported by a large, expert, international cast, alert to the opera's wit, horror, and pathos.

Particularly outstanding are Luciana Serra, vocally flawless and visually mechanical as the singing robot Olympia; Ileana Cotrubas as Antonia, who sings herself to death; Claire Powell as Hoffmann's partner Niklausse; and all four of the deep-voiced villains. This production departs from Offenbach's evident intentions particularly in the Venetian act, which it places second rather than last and pads out with material Offenbach never included. These additions, however, include some of the best-loved material in the opera. --Joe McLellan

Offenbach's extraordinary opera is performed here in this Covent Garden production by Placido Domingo, Luciana Serra, Agnes Baltsa and Ileana Cotrubas. The Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Georges Pretre.

Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld / Davin, Badea, Vidal, Theatre de la Monnaie Brussels

Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphe aux Enfers), Offenbach's riotous parody of the dissipations of French life in the Second Empire, fairly gallops past in this 1997 Herbert Wernicke production staged at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels.

The casting is excellent, with Jacqueline van Quaille's chain-smoking dowager Juno heading the field. Alexandru Badea's Orpheus subverts the legend in his purely pragmatic pursuit of Eurydice (the thrush-voiced soprano Elizabeth Vidal) that has nothing to do with love. Dale Duesing's Jupiter is sexy, particularly in the very funny fly scene in the second act. From first to last, Wernicke's production offers something to catch the eye and ear, culminating in the well-loved, frantic cancan finale. Overall this is not only well sung but very entertaining. --Piers Ford

Bored with the cushioned confines of Mount Olympus, a dissolute band of gods decides to go slumming in Hell in "Orpheus in the Underworld." Offenbach's famous "can-can" is one high point in this stylish, witty, and elegant production, which also features a stupendous entry into Hell via a steam-belching locamotive which crashes directly through the ceiling. Recorded live at Brussel's Theatre de la Monnaie, this visual and musical delight was directed by Herbert Wernicke and conducted by Patrick Davin, providing a powerful sensory experience you won't soon forget.

Offenbach - La Belle Helene / Minkowski, Lott, Beuron, Senechal, Naouri, Le Roux, Torodovitch, Chatelet Opera

Staged and costumed by Laurent Pelly, this production Offenbach's parody of the origins of the Trojan War is a supreme manifestation of his comic genius. It combines a musically superb performance with a stream of visual humour that flows from Pelly's core idea that the action all takes place in the imagination of a sleeping, sex-starved, suburban housewife. Dame Felicity Lott is magnificent as the woman who dreams of being the most beautiful woman in the world. The production explodes with gaiety and invention throughout and "is as innocently filthy as only the French can manage" (The Times). Lott adds an undeniable elegance and sings with "Mozartian refinement" (Herald Tribune).

Offenbach - La Vie Parisienne / Ossonce, DeLavault, Opera National de Lyon

Offenbach's melodious extravaganza is essentially a celebration of Paris as a tourist trap, a background for attempted seductions, and a fertile source of routine flim-flams. This 1991 Opera National de Lyon production, emanating from one of Paris's chief rivals among French cities, focuses gleefully on the sordid aspects of the City of Lights, but its strongest appeal is in the quality of the singing and dancing.

The opening scene of La Vie Parisienne takes place in a railroad station around the year 1860; tourists are pouring in from all parts of the world, many in colorful foreign costumes, including a Swedish woman, the Baroness Gondremark, who is chosen as the target for a seduction attempt. An elaborate series of deceptions fills out the plot and--more important--supplies opportunities for a dazzling variety of clever song and dance numbers. --Joe McLellan

Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann / La Scola, Rancatore, Allegretta, Raspagliosi, Raimondi, Chaslin, Macerata Opera

Offenbach in Paris / von Otter, Les Musicians du Louvre, Minkowski [Theatre du Chatelet 2002]

Anne Sofie Von Otter gives a dazzling vocal display in this concert from the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Lyrically superb, she is wickedly sly, deliciously naughty and delightfully playful as she literally dons the hats of some of the feisty females who inhabit Offenbach's best-loved operettas. She is joined by singers Magali Léger, Stéphanie d'Oustrac, Gilles Ragon, Laurent Naouri, Jean-Christophe Henry, Franck Versini and Christophe Grapperon who also assume Offenbach characters with uninhibited relish. Includes passages from La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Madame l'Archiduc, La Belle Hélène, Barbe-Bleue, Lischen et Fritzchen, La Vie Parisienne, La Fille du tambour-major and La Périchole, as well as the famous Barcarolle from the opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann. To round off an exhilarating evening, the orchestra, soloists and chorus join in a boisterous rendition of Offenbach's most famous creation, the cancan. Marc Minkowski conducts Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble.

Offenbach - La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein / Lott, Piau, Beuron, Le Roux, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski (Theatre du Chatelet)

Dame Felicity Lott stars in a rollicking performance of Offenbach's operetta "La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein." Features the same cast as the studio recording released on CD in October 2005. The stage production was filmed in December 2004 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. The result is a kaleidoscope of artistry and comedy that should not be missed! This production goes back to the original version which had been adjusted and censored after it's premiere at the Theatre des Varietes in 1867.

Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann / Kraus, Hendricks, Welting, Ghiuselev, Omilian, Eggerton, Guingal, Parma

Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann / Guingal, Machado, Gorny, Goeldner, Opera de Bilbao

Springtime in Vienna, Vol. 2: Jacques Offenbach/Robert Stolz