Offenbach - La Vie parisienne (CD + Book)

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Label: Bru Zane

Cat No: BZ1057

Format: CD + Book

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Opera

Release Date: 4th October 2024

Works

Offenbach, Jacques

La Vie parisienne

Artists

Anne-Catherine Gillet
Veronique Gens
Artavazd Sargsyan
Sandrine Buendia
Marc Mauillon
Jerome Boutillier
Pierre Derhet
Elena Galitskaya
Louise Pingeot
Marie Kalinine
Marie Gautrot
Caroline Meng
Philippe Estèphe
Carl Ghazarossian
Choeur de l’Opera national du Capitole de Toulouse
Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse

Conductor

Romain Dumas

Works

Offenbach, Jacques

La Vie parisienne

Artists

Conductor

Romain Dumas

About

‘The rehearsals for La Vie parisienne are almost driving me insane’, wrote librettist Ludovic Halévy a few days before the work’s first performance. The artists of the Palais-Royal company were struggling with some of the musical numbers Offenbach had written for them. Under pressure, composer and librettists had to simplify, cut, rewrite and sometimes even abandon some of their most successful inspirations. The international success of the final score soon ensured the hundreds of pages reluctantly deleted by Offenbach were well and truly forgotten. Now the research of the Palazzetto Bru Zane team has uncovered all this musical material, making it possible to present the world-premiere recording. Listeners can now enjoy a delightful Diplomatic Trio, a Seduction Quintet, a Roadsweeper’s Song, an air for Urbain, the Fabliau of the Baroness, and more. The team of fourteen soloists assembled under the baton of Romain Dumas benefits from the glittering sonorities of the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, which previously recorded Offenbach's ‘other’ Vie parisienne back in... 1976.

Cast:
- Gabrielle: Anne-Catherine Gillet
- Métella: Véronique Gens
- La Baronne de Gondremarck: Sandrine Buendia
- Pauline: Elena Galitskaya
- Clara: Louise Pingeot
- Bertha: Marie Kalinine
- Mme de Quimper-Karadec: Marie Gautrot
- Mme de Folle-Verdure: Caroline Meng
- Raoul de Gardefeu: Artavazd Sargsyan
- Bobinet: Marc Mauillon
- Le Baron de Gondremarck: Jérôme Boutillier
- Le Brésilien / Le Major Frick / Gontran: Pierre Derhet
- Urbain / Alfred / Un Employé: Philippe Estèphe
- Prosper / Joseph / Alphonse: Carl Ghazarossian

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Ouverture
2

Acte I : Chœur. Nous sommes employés de la ligne de l’Ouest
3

Acte I : Chœur et Scène. Le ciel est noir
4

Acte I : Couplets de Bobinet. Elles sont tristes, les marquises
5

Acte I : Triolet. Ce que c’est pourtant que la vie
6

Acte I : Trio. Jamais, foi de Cicérone
7

Acte I : Rondeau du Brésilien. Je suis Brésilien, j’ai de l’or
8

Acte I : Chœur. Paris ! Entrons dans la fournaise
9

Acte II : Entracte
10

Acte II : Duo. Entrez ! entrez, jeune fille à l’œil bleu
11

Acte II : Rondo. Autrefois plus d’un amant
12

Acte II : Duo (suite). Savez-vous bien, mademoiselle
13

Acte II : Couplets. Dans cette ville toute pleine
14

Acte II : Mélodrame. Qu’est-ce que tu as, toi ?
15

Acte II : Rondeau de la lettre. Vous souvient-il, ma belle
16

Acte II : Couplets du Major. Pour découper adroitement
17

Acte II : Morceau d’ensemble. Nous entrons dans cette demeure
18

Acte II : Couplets. Je suis veuve d’un colonel
19

Acte II : Entrée des Allemands et des Marseillais. Mesdames et messieurs
20

Acte III : Entracte
21

Acte III : Sextuor. Donc je puis me fier à vous ?
22

Acte III : Air. C’est ainsi, moi, que je voudrais mourir
23

Acte III : Trio diplomatique. Rien ne vaut un bon diplomate
24

Acte III : Duo. L’amour, c’est le cœur qui s’entrouvre
25

Acte III : Quintette. Ah, qu’il est bien !
26

Acte III : Couplets. On va courir
27

Acte III : Sextuor. Son habit a craqué dans le dos
28

Acte III : Finale. Nous ne faisons rien ce soir
29

Acte III : Chanson de la Balayeuse. Sous la pluie, une balayeuse
30

Acte III : Pastourelle. Lèv’ra t’y l’pied, Le l’v’ra t’y pas
31

Acte IV : Entracte
32

Acte IV : Trio des ronflements. Ah ! quelle fête !
33

Acte IV : Quatuor. Jean le cocher ?
34

Acte IV : Fabliau. Hier au bois, j’ai vu, ma charmante
35

Acte IV : Finale. Madame est servie !
36

Acte V : Entracte
37

Acte V : Couplets d’Alfred. Avant toute chose il faut être
38

Acte V : Duo. Mes bons amis, je vous présente
39

Acte V : Scène et Ronde. Mesdames et messieurs, le dîner est servi
40

Acte V : Rondeau. Vous êtes ici... parlons bas…
41

Acte V : Reprise de la Ronde. Des maris infidèles

Europadisc Review

With acclaimed recordings of La Périchole, Maître Péronilla and Le Voyage dans la Lune already under their belt, the enterprising team at Palazzetto Bru Zane now turn to one of Offenbach’s best-known operettas: La Vie Parisienne. This opéra-bouffe was originally produced – in a version cast in five acts rather than the subsequent (1873) revision in ‘four acts and five tableaux’ – at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris, where the company was more accustomed to performing vaudeville and spoken theatre. Accordingly, the work relies less on elaborate arias than sparkling ensemble work and the frequent use of strophic couplets. The contemporary subject matter, too, is a departure: a kind of ‘urban Naturalism’ which, together with the partying atmosphere, was highly influential on such works as Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus (1874).

For this new recording, researched with typical thoroughness by Sébastien Troester, not only are the original five acts restored, but numbers dropped or heavily revised during the hectic rehearsal period for the 1866 première are reinstated. The result is a rather more extensive score than usual, which positively fizzes with energy and good humour throughout. The cast is a starry one, with Véronique Gens as the demi-mondaine Métella whose snubbing of the dandy Gardefeu (tenor Artavazd Sargsyan) sets in motion the machinations of the farcical plot. Silver-timbred soprano Anne-Catherine Gillet is delightfully sparkling as the glovemaker Gabrielle who aids Gardefeu in his efforts to woo the Baroness de Gondremarck (a comedically aristocratic Sandrine Buendia) without her husband (the wonderfully blustery and pompous Jérôme Boutillier) discovering.

Character tenor Marc Mauillon is Bobinet, Gardefeu’s friend and sometime rival, contrasting perfectly with Sargsyan’s more heroic timbre; the ease with which the latter negotiates the high tessitura (for example in his Act 1 triolets) matches the Harlequin-like agility of his scheming. Buendia and Boutillier sound as though they’re having great fun when deploying comic Scandinavian accents, and they possess both the panache and the vocal pliancy that is a prerequisite for playing comedy. The substantial passages of dialogue are delivered by all the cast with a theatrical fluency (and not a little melodramatic exaggeration!) that keeps the plot moving and the listener constantly engaged.

The quality of the singing, from soloists and chorus, substantially surpasses the rather fraught standards of the original performances, yet there’s a lightness of touch both to the solo numbers (like the Brazilian’s Act 1 patter song, sung with quickfire delivery by Pierre Derhet) and the numerous ensembles and choruses that remains rooted in the traditions of opéra-bouffe and vaudeville. Under Romain Dumas’s fast-paced direction, the chorus and orchestra of the Capitole de Toulouse combine attention to detail, fabulous articulation, and a natural feel for the idiom. The recording, made in Toulouse’s Halle aux Grains, is well-balanced and nicely focussed, but with an attractive bloom.

Details of the version used and its unearthing are given in the accompanying booklet, as sumptuous as ever from this label, lavishly illustrated, and with full libretto and English translation crisply printed on high-quality paper. For lovers of comic opera, this revelatory new Vie parisienne will be one of the jewels in the extensive Bru Zane catalogue, and will surely be one of this year’s stocking-fillers come the festive season. Highly recommended!

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Offenbach - La Vie parisienne (CD + Book)

In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day

Despatch Information

Contents

Works

Artists

Conductor

Works

Artists

Conductor

About

Sound/Video

Paused

Europadisc Review