Composer of the Week: Offenbach

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880): Satirical tendencies (1841-1853)

Satirical tendencies (1841-1853)

Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), Satirical tendencies (1841-1853)

Offenbach’s satirical side and musical jokes often got him into trouble.

Offenbach’s satirical side and musical jokes often got him into trouble - he was accused of poking fun at contemporary morals.

Jacques Offenbach’s life throws a light on the political turbulence and identity within 19th century Europe. He struggled to break into the musical establishment of Paris, but he didn’t struggle with creating a dazzling array of work for the theatre. His 98 stage works established and defined what operetta was, paving the way for modern musical theatre. 

Today, Donald Macleod looks at Offenbach’s satirical side and his musical jokes, which often got him into trouble - he was accused of poking fun at contemporary morals and of some of the era’s key figures, including Wagner and Meyerbeer

Les bavards: Overture					
Orchestre Lyrique de Region Avignon Provence
Marcel Couraud, conductor

Decameron dramatique: 	
V. Augustine, schottische			
VI. Louise, grande valse				
Marco Sollini, piano

Le “66” – Operetta
XIII: No. 7 Trio, O ciel! O ciel! (Grittly, Frantz, Berthold)			
XV, No. 8 Final, Ah, quell bonheur (Grittly, Frantz, Berthold)				
Armando Noguera, baritone (Berthold)
Pierre-Antoine Chaumien, tenor (Frantz)
Sandrine Buendia, soprano (Grittly)
Kölner Akademie
Michael Alexander Wilens, conductor

6 Fables de Lafontaine (orchestrated by J.-P. Haeck)
No. 3. La cigale et la fourmi			
No. 4. La laitière et le pot au lait			
No. 5. Le rat de ville et le rat des champs	
Karine Deshayes, mezzo-soprano
Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie 
Jean-Pierre Haeck, conductor

Rends-moi mon âme, romance dramatique 
L'etoile					
Mariam Sarkissian, soprano 
Daniel Propper, piano

Produced by Iain Chambers for BBC Wales & West

Composer of the Week: Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod looks at some of Offenbach's many works for the stage.

Donald Macleod looks at some of Offenbach's many works for the stage, which defined operetta and paved the way for modern musical theatre.

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