Jacques Offenbach

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


Today’s episode we meet Offenbach on the brink of defeat – when
he decides to launch his own theatre company, ‘Les
Bouffes-Parisiens’ in a tiny wooden shack on the Champs-Elysées.
It was an instant and enduring success; over the next
quarter-century, more than 50 of Offenbach’s musical comedies
were to début there. We get an insight into the character of this
driven creative artist – the man who “cannot stop working”. 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 Halévy, and a mysterious stranger makes him an offer
he can’t 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’s gout-ridden final years, and
the opera he left unfinished on his death (The Tales of
Hoffmann).


Music featured: Orphée aux enfers (extracts) Les deux aveugles
(Overture) Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui (extracts) Valse
de Zimmer (Dernier Souvenir) Boléro (from Grande scène espagnole,
Op 22) Lischen et Fritzchen (Act 1, ‘Je suis Alsacienne’) Le
papillon (extract) Boule de neige (‘L'Hospodar nous invite a
luncher avec lui, lunchons!’) Barbe-bleue (Act 1, Couplets de
Boulotte: “Y’a des bergers dans le village”) La belle Hélène
(extract) La vie Parisienne (Act 3, finale) La Grande-Duchesse de
Gérolstein (Act I, finale) La Perichole (extract) La boulangerie
à des écus (‘Ce qu’ j’ai?’) Vert-Vert (overture) American Eagle
Waltz La vie Parisienne (Act 2, beginning) Les belles Américaines
La Belle Hélène (Act 2, ‘On me nomme Hélène le blond’) La jolie
parfumeuse (Act 1, ‘Je peins, je crayonne’) Les contes d’Hoffmann
(extract)


Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC
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
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00061hq


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