Some
of the most infectious operettas ever written were composed
by Jacques Offenbach. He had a vaudeville to his name when he
was only 19, but it wasn’t a success and for quite some time
he mainly wrote music for himself to play as a cellist, educational
music and songs. It was not until he was in his mid-thirties
that he got into operetta. These took the form of a series of
one-acters – one of the most successful being Mesdames de
la Halle in March 1858. The public in Paris didn’t expect
full-length works, rather three or four short pieces for an
evening’s entertainment. But then in October 1858 he presented
Orphée aux Enfers and that was the start of something
new. By later standards this was fairly small-scale in two acts
and it was later revised and amended to four acts in 1874. When
we hear it today it is in the original 1858 version but with
some added numbers from the revision. In 1858 it wasn’t an immediate
success; the public wasn’t prepared for the caricatures and
the parody, but the work was discussed in the press and gradually
interest grew. During the next twenty years he produced a number
of successes and on this disc are collected highlights from
arguably the best three of them. There is no need to go into
detail concerning the plot, for that you need the complete recordings,
and it wouldn’t surprise me if many of those who buy this fairly
inexpensive but very well filled disc, get so engrossed in the
music that they pretty soon upgrade to the complete sets from
which these excerpts are culled.
Conductor
Marc Minkowski and his forces from Lyon and Grenoble have really
done Offenbach proud up there in his Heaven – or did he go down
to the Underworld in company with Orphée and his friends? “Infectious”
was the fifth word in this review, referring to the music, but
the playing and singing must also be contagious to make its
mark, and I have to warn readers that there is no known cure
or vaccination against “Offenbach’s disease”, so those who don’t
want to contract it – please steer clear! These are enormously
spirited performances, no undue lingering, rhythmically riveting
and generally uplifting. There is punch in the concerted numbers
and the dances are whirlwinds. This doesn’t mean that the music
is hard-driven. The beautiful, lyrical moments – and there are
lots of them – are handled with great care and Offenbach lovers
can feel safe: most of the favourite numbers are here and they
are in the main expertly done. There is an exceptionally good
chorus and the solo parts are taken by some of today’s leading
French singers. The opening couldn’t be more enticing: the glittering
Natalie Dessay as Eurydice and tenor Yann Beuron as Orphée in
the duet with the famous violin solo. Dessay is superb all through
Orphée, Beuron has a small but expressive voice and that
goes for many of the singers here. In the main this is a typically
French performance where ensemble feeling is more important
than individual star achievements. Etienne Lescroart, another
tenorino, is an agile and sprightly Mercure.
In
La Belle Hélène we don’t get Pâris’s Au mont Ida,
but the melody constitutes most of the short overture. As compensation
Pâris (Yann Beuron) has two honeyed solos; in the latter of
these (tr. 17) he indulges in some quite hilarious yodelling
– love it or leave it! Marie-Ange Todorovitch is a good Oreste
and in the group of the Kings of Greece we find several good
character singers, among them veteran tenor Michel Sénéchal
as Ménélas. Laurent Naouri is a spirited Agamemnon and he is
also heard in duet with Natalie Dessay in Orphée aux Enfers,
where he is an irritatingly buzzing fly. In the title role Felicity
Lott has a more generous vibrato than ideally, but she is still
a good Hélène, full of character and she is at her best in Invocation
à Vénus (tr. 12).
La
Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein is the latest of the three
works here and it was also the last recorded. Though the booklet
says nothing it was, if I remember correctly, set down in December
2004 and by then Felicity Lott’s voice had aged. She had problems
with the lower register in what is actually a mezzo-soprano
role. Of the three operettas on this disc La Grande-Duchesse
is the one totally dominated by the heroine. Ms Lott has the
measure of the character but she can’t efface the memory of
Régine Crespin, who recorded it for Sony (or CBS as it then
was) many years ago. She sings a lively Voici le sabre,
however, and has the right seductive tone in Dites-lui.
Yann Beuron is a good tenor partner here too, and another veteran,
François Le Roux is a charismatic General Boum, though he hasn’t
much voice left. For all the individual contributions it is,
however, Marc Minkowski and his brilliant chorus and orchestra
who are the true heroes.
The
complete sets should be readily available and there are few
alternatives. I have already mentioned the Crespin recording
of La Grande-Duchesse, with Alain Vanzo, Robert Massard
and Mady Mesplé and with Michel Plasson conducting, where Crespin
is lighter of tone and more idiomatic. Plasson also recorded
both Orphée aux Enfers and La Belle Hélène for
EMI 25–30 years ago. Orphée, from 1979, was presented
in the more lavish 1874 version, so it is not quite comparable
to Minkowski’s leaner original version. Plasson’s Eurydice,
Mady Mesplé, can’t compete with Natalie Dessay and in general
Plasson is heavier. But he has good soloists, among them Michel
Sénéchal as Orphée. Plasson’s La Belle Hélène, recorded
in December 1984, has no less a diva than Jessye Norman in the
title role, John Aler in good voice as Pâris and names like
Charles Burles, Gabriel Bacquier and Jean-Philippe Lafont among
the Greek kings. This has always been my favourite version and
I still think it holds its own even against Minkowski, not least
for Ms Norman’s fresher Hélène.
This
paragraph was of course intended as information for those who
want complete sets. Those who don’t should be well satisfied
with the excerpts on the present disc but, as I warned earlier,
being infected – and the risk factor is high – there is no way
back.
Göran
Forsling
Felicity Lott (soprano) – La Grande-Duchesse; Yann Beuron (tenor)
– Fritz; François Le Roux (bass) – Boum; Frank Leguérinel (baritone)
– Puck; Sandrine Piau (soprano) – Wanda;
