ARTE – SUNDAY, JANUARY 2 AT 3:05 P.M. AND 4:40 P.M. – MUSIC
For the end and start of the year celebrations, Arte hits the nail on the head for Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880). The Franco-German channel pays tribute to the German-French composer (born in Cologne, this pure representative of the French spirit will not be naturalized until 1860) with a documentary (already broadcast in 2019) and two famous lyrical works.
The documentary The Offenbach Odyssey (2019) offers a richly illustrated journey, from a musical and musicological point of view, of the life and work of Jakob Offenbach, son of a synagogue cantor, who came to Paris at the age of 14. Jakob, now Jacques, will defy all prejudices – artistic, nationalist and anti-Semitic – to become the herald of the Parisian scenes where his comic genius (but not only) will bring him immense success – which, during his lifetime, will spread to the States -United.
With the collaboration of actors and singers, the authors (the director François Roussillon and the musicologist Jean-Claude Yon) embodied their point by docu-fiction scenes, produced by the director Mariame Clément and very well played by singers (Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Marianne Crebassa) and actors (Michel Fau, Amaury de Crayencour and the excellent Robert Hatisi in Offenbach).
Many unreleased tracks
The filmed production of Parisian life stands out for two reasons: it is the first staging of the couturier Christian Lacroix (who had however often signed the costumes, and sometimes the sets, of other theater, opera and ballet shows); it is also an unpublished version of the work, restored with the five acts originally wanted, in 1866, by Offenbach and his librettists, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
After an investigation « digne de Sherlock Holmes », according to Alexandre Dratwicki, the scientific director of the Center for French Romantic Music of the Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice, many unpublished pieces were found by the musicologist Sébastien Troester in the Variety Theater collection at the National Library of France.
The spiciness of the novelty is combined with the freshness of Christian Lacroix’s approach in a lively and poetic show that has passed through the operas of Rouen and Tours before stopping in Paris, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (until ‘on January 9, 2022), where this recording, signed François Roussillon, was made.
Finally, in addition to this day, we will point out a production of Countes d’Hoffmann (1881) – the famous “serious” (and posthumous) opera by Offenbach -, recorded at the Hamburg Opera in September. First broadcast on the air Wednesday, December 29, the recording made available on Arte.tv (until January 27, 2022) allows you to attend the role-taking of young French tenor Benjamin Bernheim, with exceptional clarity of style, singing and diction.
The Offenbach Odyssey, documentary by François Roussillon and Jean-Claude Yon (Fr., 2019, 94 min). Aired Sunday, January 2 at 3:05 p.m. and available on demand on Arte.tv until 1is May 2022.
Parisian life, opéra-bouffe in five acts by Jacques Offenbach. With Jodie Devos, Rodolphe Briand, Marc Mauillon, Franck Leguérinel, Les Musiciens du Louvre and the Namur chamber choir, Romain Dumas (conductor), Christian Lacroix (direction, sets and costumes). Capture made by François Roussillon (Fr., 2021, 180 min). Broadcast on Sunday January 2 at 4:40 p.m. on Arte and available on demand on Arte.tv until December 22, 2023.