2019

`Offenbach once wrote that he had `one terrible, unconquerable vice: I cannot stop working. I regret this`, he went on, `for the sake of those who do not like my music, for I shall certainly die with a melody on the tip of my pen.` He had a point; at the peak of his career, he might have as many as three operettas on stage simultaneously in different theatres around Paris, let alone international productions. 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. He can't have been an easy man to live with, and whatever benefits his wife Herminie enjoyed from their 36-year partnership, marital constancy was not one of them; he had a string of mistresses throughout their marriage. A brilliant entrepreneur, he was also recklessly extravagant, making a fortune then blowing it on a series of spectacularly overdone productions. Despite his success, he longed to be taken seriously by the musical establishment - an insecurity that dogged him to the end.

Rodolphe Zimmer

Valse de Zimmer (Dernier Souvenir)

Simon Lepper, piano

Bol退ro (from Grande sc耀ne espagnole, Op 22)

Camille Thomas, cello

Orchestre National de Lille

Alexandre Bloch, conductor

Lischen et Fritzchen (Act 1, Duo des alsaciens - ‘Je suis Alsacienne')

Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano (Lischen)

Laurent Naouri, bass (Fritzchen)

Les Musiciens du Louvre

Marc Minkowski, conductor

Orph退e aux enfers (1874 version) (Act 3, extract: No 20, Septuor du Tribunal, ‘Minos, Eaque et Rhadamante'; Dialogue, ‘La s退ance est ouverte!'; M退lodrame, ‘Ah! Mon bras!' - No 21, Ronde des policemen, ‘Nez au vent, oeil au guet' - No 21 R退cit et couplets des baisers, ‘Allons, mes fins limiers, visitez et fouillez!')

Jean-Claude Bonnafous, tenor (Minos)

Roger Trentin, tenor (Eache)

Henry Amiel, baritone (Rhadamanta)

Jean Bussard, spoken role (The Bailiff)

Charles Burles, tenor (Pluto)

Andr退 Valdeneige, barked role (Cerberus)

Michel Trempont, baritone (Jupiter)

Jane Berbi退, mezzo soprano (Cupid)

Jacqueline Valli耀re, spoken role (A policeman)

Orchestre et Choeurs du Capitole de Toulouse

Michel Plasson conductor

Le papillon (Act 2 scene 2, Pas de deux)

London Symphony Orchestra (John Georgiadis, solo violin)

Richard Bonynge, conductor

Boule de neige (‘L'Hospodar nous invite a luncher avec lui, lunchons!')

Elizabeth Vidal, soprano (Olga)

Diana Montague, mezzo soprano (Schamyl)

Alexandra Sherman, mezzo soprano (Gre?gorine)

Mark Wilde, tenor (Polkakoff)

Loi?c Fe?lix, tenor (Kassnoiseff)

Mark Stone, baritone (Balabrelock)

Andre? Cognet, baritone (Potapotinski/Grand Khan)

Alastair Miles, bass (Krapack)

Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

London Philharmonic Orchestra

David Parry, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for BBC Wales

The life and music of Jacques Offenbach. Today, an insight into the composer's character.

Iain Burnside and Rebecca Evans with highlights from BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2019

International classical singers compete in the world-renowned singing contest.

In 1874, Offenbach's finances hit the buffers after he mounted a spectacularly inflated, four-act version of Orph退e aux enfers (Orpheus in the underworld), a monumentally overblown staging of Victorien Sardou's prose tragedy La Haine (Hatred), and then - the icing on the cake - a silicon-enhanced version of his own operetta, Genevi耀ve de Brabant; all coming on top of his recent takeover and lavish, no-expense-spared refurbishment of Paris's Th退 tre de la Gait退. So when a Latin-American impresario called Lino Bacquero turned up at Offenbach's summer retreat on the terrace at Saint-Germain-en-Laye the following year, offering him $30,000 payable in advance to conduct a series of 30 concerts in the United States to celebrate the centenary of American Independence in 1876, it must have seemed to the beleaguered composer like manna from heaven. After a shaky start, the tour, which took in New York, Philadelphia and a town he referred to only as `X` - perhaps because, in his words, the orchestra there was `execrable` - was a definite hit. On his return to France, Offenbach wrote an entertaining book about his experiences Stateside, documenting such things as the musical highs and lows, the culinary scene, and his observations on American life in general. He was particularly fascinated by American women, who, he said, were `handsome in a proportion wholly unknown in Paris. Out of every hundred that you meet, there are ninety who are ravishing.`

Vert-Vert (overture)

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Neeme J䀀rvi, conductor

American Eagle Waltz

Philip Collins, trumpet

Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Erich Kunzel, conductor

La vie Parisienne (Act 2, beginning)

Andr退 Batisse, tenor (Alphonse)

Jean-Christophe Benoit, baritone (Frick)

Mady Mespl退, soprano (Gabrielle)

Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse

Michel Plasson, conductor

Les belles Am退ricaines

Marco Sollini, piano

La Belle H退l耀ne (Act 2, No 11: Invocation

According to legend, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Hal退vy met on the steps of the Th退 tre de la Vari退t退 in Paris sometime during the course of 1860. Hal退vy had been commissioned to write a comedy for the Vari退t退 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 - perhaps it turned out to be half-baked. Le br退silien followed the year after, then in 1864 came La belle H退l耀ne, the new triumvirate's first gold-plated hit. After which were Barbe-bleue, La vie parisienne, La Grande-Duchesse de G退rolstein, Le ch teau