大象传媒

Donald Macleod on Jacques Offenbach - maestro of the Cancan and much more besides.

Today鈥檚 episode we meet Offenbach on the brink of defeat 鈥� when he decides to launch his own theatre company, 鈥楲es Bouffes-Parisiens鈥� in a tiny wooden shack on the Champs-Elys茅es. It was an instant and enduring success; over the next quarter-century, more than 50 of Offenbach鈥檚 musical comedies were to d茅but there. We get an insight into the character of this driven creative artist 鈥� the man who 鈥渃annot stop working鈥�. He even had his carriage kitted out with a writing desk, so that he could continue composing, scoring or revising as he travelled between venues. Next, we hear about his A-team librettists, Meilhac and Hal茅vy, and a mysterious stranger makes him an offer he can鈥檛 refuse. Offenbach is whisked to the United States on a concert tour, where he is particularly fascinated by the women. Finally, Donald looks at Offenbach鈥檚 gout-ridden final years, and the opera he left unfinished on his death (The Tales of Hoffmann).

Music featured:
Orph茅e aux enfers (extracts)
Les deux aveugles (Overture)
Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui (extracts)
Valse de Zimmer (Dernier Souvenir)
Bol茅ro (from Grande sc猫ne espagnole, Op 22)
Lischen et Fritzchen (Act 1, 鈥楯e suis Alsacienne鈥�)
Le papillon (extract)
Boule de neige (鈥楲'Hospodar nous invite a luncher avec lui, lunchons!鈥�)
Barbe-bleue (Act 1, Couplets de Boulotte: 鈥淵鈥檃 des bergers dans le village鈥�)
La belle H茅l猫ne (extract)
La vie Parisienne (Act 3, finale)
La Grande-Duchesse de G茅rolstein (Act I, finale)
La Perichole (extract)
La boulangerie 脿 des 茅cus (鈥楥e qu鈥� j鈥檃i?鈥�)
Vert-Vert (overture)
American Eagle Waltz
La vie Parisienne (Act 2, beginning)
Les belles Am茅ricaines
La Belle H茅l猫ne (Act 2, 鈥極n me nomme H茅l猫ne le blond鈥�)
La jolie parfumeuse (Act 1, 鈥楯e peins, je crayonne鈥�)
Les contes d鈥橦offmann (extract)

Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Chris Barstow for 大象传媒 Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Jacques Offenbach /programmes/m00061hq

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we鈥檝e featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z