大象传媒

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of the maestro of the cancan and much more besides, Jacques Offenbach. Today, with A-team librettists Meilhac and Hal茅vy, he鈥檚 on a roll.

According to legend, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Hal茅vy met on the steps of the Th茅芒tre de la Vari茅t茅 in Paris sometime during the course of 1860. Hal茅vy had been commissioned to write a comedy for the Vari茅t茅 and his partner had just quit on him. He was desperate, the chemistry with Meilhac felt right, and he offered his new best friend the job on the spot. Several librettos later, in 1862, came the opportunity for the duo to work with the already hugely successful Offenbach on an operetta called La baguette, of which no performance is recorded 鈥� perhaps it turned out to be half-baked. Le br茅silien followed the year after, then in 1864 came La belle H茅l猫ne, the new triumvirate鈥檚 first gold-plated hit. After which were Barbe-bleue, La vie parisienne, La Grande-Duchesse de G茅rolstein, Le ch芒teau 脿 Toto, La P茅richole, Vert-vert, La diva, Les brigands and, in 1875, La boulang猫re 脿 des 茅cus 鈥� at which point it became clear that the collaboration had effectively run out of steam. As Hal茅vy noted in his diary, 鈥淥ffenbach, Meilhac and myself, we couldn鈥檛 do it anymore. We are no longer twenty or even forty. Daring and fantasy go together with youth. We no longer have the boldness of inexperience.鈥� That said, 1875 was also the year in which the curtain rose on a new operatic alliance, between Meilhac, Hal茅vy and a struggling young composer called Georges Bizet. The opera in question? Carmen.

Barbe-bleue (Act 1, Couplets de Boulotte: 鈥淵鈥檃 des bergers dans le village鈥�)
Lina Dachary, soprano (Boulotte)
Orchestre Lyrique de l'O.R.T.F.
Jean Doussard, conductor

La belle H茅l猫ne (Act 2 No 15, Duo 鈥� 鈥淐鈥檈st le ciel que m鈥檈nvoie鈥�)
Jessye Norman, soprano (Helen)
John Aler, tenor (Paris)
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse
Michel Plasson, conductor

La vie Parisienne (Act 3, finale: 鈥楽oupons, soupons, c鈥檈st le moment鈥�)
Luis Masson (Le Baron)
脡liane Lublin (Pauline)
Jean-Christophe Benoit (Prosper)
Dani猫le Castaings (Clara)
Michel Trempont (Bobinet)
Fran莽oise Gayral (L茅onie)
Michel Jarry (Urbain)
Mady Mespl茅 (Gabrielle)
Marie-Th茅r猫se T茅chene (Louise)
Orchestre et Choeurs du Capitole de Toulouse
Michel Plasson, conductor

La Grande-Duchesse de G茅rolstein (Act I, finale)
Felicity Lott (La Grand Duchesse)
Eric Huchet (Le Prince Paul)
Fran莽ois Le Roux (Le G茅n茅ral Boum)
Franck Legu茅rinel (Le Baron Puck)
Sandrine Piau (Wanda)
Yann Beuron (Fritz)
Maryline Fallot, Blandine Staskiewicz, Jennifer Tani, Aur茅lia Legay (Demoiselles d鈥檋onneur)
Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre
Les Musiciens du Louvre
Marc Minkowski, conductor

La P茅richole (Act 1 No 7, The letter 鈥� 鈥淥 mon cher amant, je te jure鈥�)
Teresa Bergana, mezzo soprano (La P茅richole)
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse
Michel Plasson, conductor

La Perichole (Act 3 scene 2, no 21 鈥� Entr鈥檃cte, chorus of soldiers and waltz-arietta of the three cousins)
Bernd K枚nnes, tenor (Panatella)
Marcus G眉nzel, baritone (Don Pedro)
Jessica Glatte, soprano (Guadalena)
Elke Kottmair, soprano (Berginella)
Tanjo H枚ft, mezzo soprano (Mastrilla)
Chor der Staatsoperette Dresden
Orchester der Staatsoperette Dresden
Ernst Theis, conductor

La boulangerie 脿 des 茅cus (鈥楥e qu鈥� j鈥檃i?鈥�)
Cassandre Berthon, soprano (Toinon)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
David Parry, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for 大象传媒 Wales