JACQUES OFFENBACH

La Vie Parisienne

 

Bobinet - Marc Callahan baritone

Raoul de Gardefeu - Jean-Sébastien Bou baritone

Metella - Maria Riccarda Wesseling mezzo-soprano

Le Baron de Gondremark - Laurent Naouri baritone

La Baronne - Michelle Canniccioni soprano

Gabrielle - Marie Devellereau soprano

Frick - Jean-Paul Fouchécourt tenor

Le Brésilien - Jesus Garcia tenor

Prosper - Christophe Mortagne tenor

Pauline - Brigitte Hool soprano

Urbain - Jean-Louis Meunier tenor

Léonie - Claire Delgado-Boge soprano

 

Orchestre et Chœurs de l'Opéra de Lyon / Sébastien Rouland

 

Stage Production

Stage director Laurent Pelly

Associate Director Agathe Mélinand

Set designs Chantal Thomas

Costume designs Laurent Pelly

Choreography Laura Scozzi

Lighting Joël Adam

Dialogue adaptation Agathe Mélinand

 

“A popular hit …. Previously overexposed in France, Pelly’s successes abroad have given us a breathing space. It is good to see him back and on such sparkling form. Aided and abetted by his usual high-octane team, Agathe Mélinand for the adapted dialogue and Chantal Thomas for the wonderful sets, Pelly convincingly updates this satire on hedonistic Second Empire morals to the present day.”Financial Times

 

After La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein, and La Fille du régiment, Virgin Classics develops its DVD catalogue with yet a new stage production by renowned director Laurent Pelly (his 3rd for the label) accompanied by his assistant Agathe Mélinand who again adapted the dialogues as in the other productions. Filmed in Lyons during the performances (18th December – 1st January 2008) the production and the cast re-enacted in our moderns times the satirical portrayal of Parisian life in the Second Empire.

 

The performances were a hit: Laurent Pelly brought to Offenbach’s operetta all the gusto and humour the subject calls for – his staging is wild and frenzied. La Vie parisienne was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects. It became one of Offenbach's most popular operettas.

 

The production brings together on stage a rich cast of singers - of which Laurent Naouri, Natalie Dessay’s husband - from the US, France, Italy and under Sébastien Rouland’s lively baton.

 

Virgin Classics DVD 5193019