In October 1880, at the age of 61, having poured out his high-spirited talent into over a hundred works for the stage, Offenbach lay exhausted on his deathbed. A strange figure wearing dark glasses and a floppy white cravat knocked at the door. It was Léonce, the comedian who had made such a big hit in Orphée aux enfers. The concierge told him: ‘Monsieur Offenbach is dead. He died very gently, without realising it’. ‘Well, well,’ replied Léonce. ‘How annoyed he’ll be when he finds out.’
And that curious little anecdote, told by James Harding in his excellent liner notes, tells something of the wit and sparkling humour of these performances. Traversing a wide span of recordings – from Ernest Ansermet, cheeky in the brilliantly-recorded overtures, to Sutherland and Crespin in voices thrilling and beguiling for the arias, this compendium offers not only the Offenbach ‘hits’ (including the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffman, both as an orchestral interlude as well as a duet), but several delightful rarities, performed by top-shelf Decca artists. Long out of print, the CD is now restored to circulation.
[the voice] sparkles all through. Crespin … sounds far more at home twinkling in operetta than ever the majority of her admirers would have suspected. … She has been splendidly served by her accompanists, not to mention the recording engineers who, while conveying the individual timbre of the voice very faithfully, have not allowed it to “glare”; as it sometimes has done on record.’ Gramophone
‘Joan Sutherland gives a virtuoso performance … Bonynge’s direction is unfailingly sympathetic … Domingo gives one of his finest performances on record … Superb atmospheric recording quality’ Penguin Guide to CDs
OFFENBACH
Les Contes d’Hoffmann
1 Barcarolle
2 Doll Song
3 Va, pour Kleinzach! … Il était une fois à la cour d’Eisenach
4 Ô Dieu! De quelle ivresse
5 La Belle Hélène: Overture
Le Papillon
6 Pas de deux – excerpt (Act II, Scene 2)
7 Valse des rayons
8 Un Mari à la porte: Valse Tyrolienne
9 Orphée aux enfers: Overture
La Périchole
10 Ô mon cher amant (Air de lettre)
11 Ah! quel diner
12 La Fille du Tambour-Major: Overture
13 Robinson Crusoé: Conduisez-moi vers celui que j’adore (Waltz Song)
14 La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein: Portez armes … J’aime les militaries
Régine Crespin, soprano
Plácido Domingo, tenor
Sumi Jo, soprano
Joan Sutherland, soprano
Huguette Tourangeau, mezzo-soprano
Ernest Ansermet
Richard Bonynge
Alain Lombard
Fast Delivery and professional packaging
Our long-standing relationships with UPS FedEx DHL and other international carriers gives us the ability to provide various shipping options. Our warehouse personnel is highly-skilled and will package your items according to our precise and exact specifications. Prior to shipping, your goods will be thoroughly examined and secured. We ship to hundreds of thousands of customers each day in different countries. This shows our commitment to becoming the biggest retailer online in the world. Warehouses and distribution centers can be found in Europe and the USA.
Note: Orders that contain more than one item will be assigned a separate processing period for each item.
Prior to shipment, we will examine thoroughly the items you've purchased. The majority of orders are shipped within 48 hours. The delivery time will be between 3-7 days.
Returns
We are not able to manage the stock in our warehouse and factory. The actual inventory may fluctuate at any time. It's possible that the stock may run out after the order has been made.
Our policy is valid for 30 days. If 30 days have gone by since your purchase and we are unable to offer an exchange or refund.
The item cannot be used and in its original condition. The item must be returned in its original packaging.
Related products
