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): Living Beyond his Means (1854-1864)

Living Beyond his Means (1854-1864)

Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), Living Beyond his Means (1854-1864)

Offenbach’s expensive tastes and lavish generosity meant he had no choice but to compose.

Offenbach’s expensive tastes and lavish generosity meant he had no choice but to compose - even as his fortunes grew, he went on spending more than he earned.

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 expensive taste and lavish generosity. Even as his fortunes grew, he went on spending more than he earned. He had no choice but to continue composing a huge quantity of theatrical works. Inactivity was not an option.

Les brigands: Overture				
Lyon National Opera Orchestra
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Ba-ta-clan - finale						
Huguette Boulangeot, soprano
Raymond Amade, tenor 
Remi Corazza, tenor
Renee Terrasson, bass
Philippe Caillard Choir 
Jean-François Paillard Orchestra 
Marcel Couraud, conductor

Orphee aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld): 
Overture
Act I Scene 1: Qui je suis? Du theatre antique (L’Opinion publique)
Act I Scene 1: La femme dont le coeur (Eurydice)
Act I Scene 1: Il est sorti! (Eurydice, Orphee)
Act I Tableau 1: Ah! c'est ainsi! (Orphee, Eurydice)
Ewa Podleś, contralto (L’Opinion publique)
Natalie Dessay, soprano (Eurydice)
Yann Beuron, tenor (Orpheus)
Lyon National Opera Orchestra
Grenoble Chamber Orchestra
Marc Minkowski, conductor

Le Papillon:
Marsch
Allegretto delicato
Waltzer: Allegro
Cologne West German Radio Orchestra
Pinchas Steinberg, conductor

Die Rheinnixen: Overture
Philharmonia Orchestra
Antonio de Almeida, conductor

Abendblatter		
Marco Sollini, piano

Produced by Iain Chambers for BBC Audio 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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Living Beyond his Means (1854-1864)

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