This page is adapted from a presentation by David Fasman at the Association of Jewish Libraries Conference Germany was identified as one of seven collecting points for Nazi-era looted books after World War II for the Monuments and Archives (MFA&A) division of the American military the Civil Affairs Division of the War Department established the Carl von Rothschild Public Library the Rothschild library did not have the capacity to hold the expansive and growing number of books and archival materials Arrangements were made in December of 1945 to transfer the books and archival materials from the Rothschild library in Frankfurt am Main to the I a former industrial complex which was renamed the Offenbach Archival Depot (OAD) the OAD contained the largest collection of Jewish materials in the world The OAD’s primary focus was repatriation and restitution which required an immense amount of sorting and cataloging This work started with the OAD’s larger collections which went directly back to their original institution or country of origin focus was placed on individual or small groups of items for which heirs could not be determined a roadblock emerged when the heirless items began to outpace identifiable materials This is where Jewish Cultural Reconstruction (JCR) an organization formed for this purpose by scholars and Jewish communal organizations In an agreement with the Office of Military Government of the United States JCR became responsible for heirless materials remaining in Germany The agreement noted that unidentifiable items for which no claims had been received and no identification of prior ownership could be determined would be transferred to JCR on a custodial basis in efforts to seek the rightful owners and restitute the items The OAD officially shut down in June of 1949 and the remaining items were transferred to the central collecting point in Wiesbaden 3.5 million books and manuscripts were processed at the OAD during its operation JCR had turned over 150,000 items to libraries in the United States Most of the items went to seventeen priority libraries The majority of those went to Jewish libraries and institutions librarians and library workers at Brandeis became one of the founding members of the newly-established Association of Jewish Libraries Task Force on Nazi-Era Looted Books The task force currently includes members from thirteen libraries from the United States but their main focuses include identifying looted materials and documenting and providing access to provenance markings They are also developing best practices for engaging in Nazi-Era looted books related projects as well as educating both researchers and the greater public about these books and archival materials Prior Page Next Page Get Help With Research Website Feedback Library Goldfarb and Farber Libraries MS 045 Brandeis University 415 South Street Waltham, MA 02453 781-736-5626 library@brandeis.edu Staff Contact Information Library Employment Opportunities Cooling liquid seeped into soil and may reach ground water Located in the industrial park on Lämmerspieler Weg some cooling water leaked out of the facility during the commissioning process The cooling water has seeped into the soil and may reach the groundwater, though according to the City of Offenbach The city went on to explain that the leak originated in the pipe system on the roof where it entered the ground beneath the building via a rainwater infiltration system The cooling water reportedly contains a "low concentration of additives for corrosion protection and preservation" and two of the substances in it are considered hazardous the cooling fluid was pumped out of the building but some leaking into the ground was unavoidable The composition of the groundwater will be "continuously analyzed" at various points to garner an idea of any impact of the leak Should measurements show higher values in the groundwater the city of Offenbach will inform the relevant authorities There are no District Water Supply Association drinking water wells in the area While the data center is not named, CloudHQ is developing a campus along Lämmerspieler Weg The campus is set to feature two data centers with a total of 1.16 million sq ft (108,371 sqm) and will offer 112MW of IT capacity Offenbach is located just east of Frankfurt one of the FLAPD's major data center markets and MightyCare DC also have data centers in the area Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia spinner of bizarre tales in the early Romantic era is remembered today less for his own writings than for his influence on the likes of Hawthorne Ever since seeing the play Les Contes d’Hoffmann concocted from the writer’s stories by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré the composer of fizzy entertainments such as Orphée aux enfers and La belle Hélène felt he had a dark Hoffmann opera in him left unfinished at Offenbach’s death and fleshed out by later composers and scholars received the sumptuous Metropolitan Opera treatment at Saturday afternoon’s matinée performance of Bartlett Sher’s production both figuratively and literally in James F was on the opera’s three arresting soprano roles here one for each tale: the animated doll Olympia in Act I and the seductive courtesan Giulietta in Act III Citing the play’s implication that the three roles are different aspects of one character sopranos such as Sutherland and Sills have carried off all three in one tour de force performance showcases the immense and distinctive talents of Erin Morley Pretty Yende and Clémentine Margaine in the respective roles The unifying device of the play and opera is the character of Hoffmann himself who not only spins his tales to an unruly tavern audience but stars as the disappointed lover in each of them yet more acted on than acting vis-à-vis his dazzling Romantic tenors from Gedda and Domingo to Alagna have sought a vehicle in Hoffmann but Saturday found Benjamin Bernheim in the shadow of his female co-stars story-wise and vocally.  He certainly looked every inch the sensitive well-placed and uniform throughout his range The art of coloratura singing is usually in expressing human emotion with it so that it doesn’t sound like a mechanical stunt and soprano Morley was in full stunt mode Saturday stratospheric leaps and spins while jerking her arms and legs like what if Olympia were (as in Hoffmann’s original story) believably human but just a little “off,” so that Hoffmann could credibly fall in love with her?  Well The undertone of Gothic horror in Act I bloomed forth in Act II overprotected by her father Crespel and manipulated by the cunning fraud Doctor Miracle was forbidden to sing for reasons of health but no less devastating for Crespel and her would-be lover Hoffmann Pretty Yende’s warm tone and floating pianissimos captured the character’s vulnerability and longing for beauty as death closed in Act III found the earnest northerner Hoffmann at first scorning the frivolity and sensuality of Venice then succumbing to the charms of the glamorous Giulietta who conspires with the sinister Dapertutto to steal Hoffman’s reflection (i.e. room-filling voice as Giulietta was a splendid thing to behold although the role perhaps needed less stand-back and more come-hither If the female leads might be aspects of one character all the opera’s agents of doom can certainly be rolled into one villain in this case bass-baritone Christian Van Horn swirling through the scenes in a long black cloak as not only Doctor Miracle and Dapertutto but as Hoffmann’s love rival Lindorf in the Prologue and the greedy schemer Coppélius in Act I Managing his rugged voice well for the long performance Van Horn kept his vocalization appropriately veiled and devious most of the time Mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya was onstage for most of the opera in a flowing dress as Hoffmann’s poetic Muse during the Prologue and Epilogue but mostly in a suit and top hat as his friend and sidekick Nicklausse and if there was some pushing in the low register it could have been part of the woman-as-man characterization Baritone Bradley Garvin was a sturdy everyman as the tavernkeeper Luther and Antonia’s anguished father Baritone Jeongcheol Cha as the appropriately named Schlémil was vocally strong through his seduction by Giulietta and his skewering by Hoffman Tenor Aaron Blake’s four-in-one jittery clown/servant characters seemed jarring and overdone but he did get in a few zingers satirizing opera singing Autumnal-voiced soprano Eve Gigliotti enhanced Act II’s tragic climax as the vision of Antonia’s dead mother Conductor Marco Armiliato’s unerring sense of pace drove the fantastic doll scene and buoyed the barcarolle in all its seductive guises Michael Yeargan’s sets embodied each act’s psychological world: mad-scientist fantastical and obsessed with eyes in the doll-maker’s workshop bleak and bare in Antonia’s lonely existence gilded and enticing in the Venetian palazzo Choreographer Dou Dou Huang did likewise with sexy dancers in the shop and Venice and steered Tilman Michael’s chorus as it sang a vigorous drinking song or cooed consolation to the suffering poet As the audience emerged into a rainy plaza Lincoln Center became the Valley of the Dolls as the Koch Theater disgorged the spectators of Delibes’s Coppélia a ballet based on the same story as Act I of the opera One imagines the real-life impecunious poet E.T.A Hoffmann would be gobsmacked at ruling New York’s artistic roost Les Contes d’Hoffman runs through October 18. metopera.org XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong> Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value"  Subscribe via RSS Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information Last Saturday at a supermarket for Eastern European products in Offenbach near Frankfurt a WSWS team mobilised support for the campaign to free Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk Bogdan is being held in a Ukrainian prison He is wrongly accused of “treason in the service of Vladimir Putin.” In reality he had the courage to resist the war in Ukraine which has already claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people Bogdan has built up the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL) in Ukraine which fights against the pro-war policy of both sides and for the unity of the Ukrainian and Russian working class we spoke about Bogdan and the war in Ukraine with workers from Poland The reactions were unanimously against the war which is being waged as a proxy war against Russia by the US government and its NATO partners in Berlin Practically everyone who took the time to read through the first few lines of the leaflet expressed their disgust at the political campaign against a young socialist and opponent of war we should be able to live without war in the world,” said Daria from Bulgaria “This boy is in prison there in Ukraine—apparently the Ukrainian government only imprisoned him because he fought against the war.” It’s a big disaster.” Not a single person supported the narrative of the German government and the political establishment that the war was necessary to defend “democracy” in Ukraine and “Western values” against Russia “I am against both sides waging war there,” said Vasily from Romania “and in my opinion both America and Russia are responsible But I think America is the driving force that wants this war they are not the source of the war that is now destroying their country.” Vasily works as an electronics technician in Hesse and would rather not have his boss see his photo on the internet but he spoke out clearly against the warmongers and in favour of Bogdan Syrotiuk’s liberation: “This Bogdan fought against war It’s terrible that he’s sitting in Zelensky’s prison for it.” “Zelensky is a puppet of America.” Vasily pointed out where US imperialism had already intervened in recent years: “They interfere everywhere People have been left impoverished and can barely live.” a construction worker in the Taunus region “This Zelensky is getting help from every country But it’s costing us workers a lot of money.” He referred to the recent industrial action in construction and the way in which the IG BAU construction union pushed through a low wage settlement and because of Ukraine we have to do without 80 euros When will this war end?” The war in Ukraine strongly reminded him of his homeland in the former Yugoslavia Serbs—22 million people!—lived together peacefully until the war came separate countries: Croatia with around 4 million This is exactly what he sees in Ukraine: “Ukrainians and Russians lived together in one big country—the Soviet Union And then this war was instigated by the secession you can see that all over the world: just look at Israel Children are dying by the dozen there—it’s cruel.” Burjan also addressed the plight of Ukrainians living in Germany as refugees and immigrants They are being refused passports at Ukrainian consulates and the German government is threatening to withdraw their welfare benefits in order to force them back into the war as cannon fodder “It’s all terrible for them now,” said Burjan “I can fully understand that: When I came to Germany I initially only received a limited stay permit which I had to have extended every six months I came here in 1994 and lived here for eight years with limited status until 2002 But I didn’t have any permanent papers for a long time “And maybe the same thing is happening with the Ukrainians They have no permanent papers; I know how difficult that is especially when you have a family and small children the children have their school here and are learning the language We call on all our readers: Sign the petition to demand Bogdan Syrotiuk’s release! Share the information about his case on social networks and discuss it with friends and colleagues. Get in touch with us and join the fight for Bogdan’s freedom! You can find more information at: wsws.org/freebogdan.  See below for special ticket information.) BerlinWild fantasies take hold in Offenbach’s compellingly strange opera; Lawrence Power is more than a match for Magnus Lindberg’s new Viola Concerto; and to the underworld with the Berlin Phil which has opened at the Royal Opera in a richly inventive new production conducted by Antonello Manacorda and directed by Damiano Michieletto A show-stealing Olga Pudova as Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann Photograph: Tristram Kenton/the GuardianAnd they do a pea-green corps de ballet who dance with chairs hula hoops: all – relatively – normal operatic fare the mathematic equations in which integers end up as a choreographed chorus (you had to be there) and a bizarre new Hoffmannesque world emerges lighting by Alessandro Carletti and choreography by Chiara Vecchi All this would be worthless without excellent soloists chorus and orchestra to deliver Offenbach’s melodic who is merely a doll; Antonia (Ermonela Jaho) who will die if she sings – her talent shown here through the metaphor of dance; and Giulietta (Marina Costa-Jackson) clockwork gestures stole the show for dazzle Costa-Jackson made the most of the less rounded character of the glamorous Giulietta The orchestra delivered this long score with endless panache and attention to detail though the stop-start gaps for applause were excessive This production honours his strange and idiosyncratic genius Salonen acknowledges Sibelius as the greatest artist in Finnish history a deep understanding shaped his reading of Sibelius’s Symphony No 1 one of the most imaginative exponents of the instrument and currently a resident artist at the Southbank Centre Lawrence Power performs Magnus Lindberg’s Viola Concerto with the Philharmonia Photograph: © Philharmonia Orchestra/Marc GascoigneThe three movements flow into one another Every string technique is employed by the soloist: pizzicato (plucking) quadruple stopping (bowing four strings at once) harmonics (touching the string lightly to create ghostly playing the viola as a banjo and singing along lyrical lines so distinctive in this middle-voiced instrument immediately worthy of a place in the repertoire as long as someone apart from Power is capable of playing it (Timothy Ridout or Tabea Zimmermann should cope) Frang caught the mood of bittersweet melancholy and yearning exuberant horns stating the luscious main theme in the closing section The orchestra also played Dvořák’s Symphony No 7 as if this familiar score had been taken to pieces – Petrenko is exhaustive in his analysis of every note The other work was Rachmaninov’s tone poem The Isle of the Dead, inspired by Arnold Böcklin’s spooky painting A mysterious rocking melody builds to a ferocious climax often likened to Charon ferrying the dead to Hades The return to a perfectly hushed pianissimo came as balm to the soul The Tales of Hoffmann is at the Royal Opera House This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts have brought opera into millions of homes playing a vital and unparalleled role in the development and appreciation of opera in this country with Humperdinck’s "Hansel and Gretel," and are now the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history The first edition of the "Barefoot - European Shoe Fair" will take place from July 31 to August 3 in cooperation with the Federal Association of the Shoe and Leather Goods Industry (HDS/L) in the halls of the Offenbach Exhibition Center The range will include barefoot shoes for women Around 60 German and international exhibitors are expected at the premiere the trade fair is reserved exclusively for trade visitors It would be the first trade fair platform in Europe dedicated exclusively to barefoot shoes The organizers plan to announce details at a press conference on January 16th We always keep you up to date: with our free newsletter SHOEZ compact You will regularly receive all information from the shoe industry in a clear form when a new magazine is published US Managing Director Peter Sachs hands over to Lance Taylor Alchemy plans to take over almost half of the Austrian shoe retailer Second best financial year in the company's history Creditors' meeting decides against P&C's takeover offer Sanela Krisat becomes International Sales Director sales representatives and business partners throughout the DACH association Telephone: +49 (0) 6 41 / 7 95 08 – 0Fax: +49 (0) 6 41 / 7 95 08 – 15Email: info@shoez.biz Designed by willsch-media.de Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) will be transmitted live to theaters across the country as the Metropolitan Opera opens 2024–25 Live in HD season on Saturday who recently performed at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics to millions of viewers makes his Met role debut as the title character and leads a cast making important Met and company role debuts Bernheim sang the role of Roméo in the critically acclaimed run of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette Soprano Erin Morley revisits one of her signature roles Mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya makes her company debut in the double role of the Muse and Hoffmann’s friend Nicklausse soprano Pretty Yende returns to the Met for the first time since her performances as Marie in Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment (2018–19 season) to portray Antonia and Stella who has performed the title role of Bizet’s Carmen in three Met seasons including in the 2019 Live in HD transmission Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn makes his Met role debut as the Four Villains following successful performances as a soloist on the Met Orchestra’s first tour to Asia last summer and tenor Aaron Blake makes his Met role debut as the Four Servants Marco Armiliato conducts Bartlett Sher’s spellbinding production which first premiered at the Met on December 3 The creative team includes set designer Michael Yeargan  Les Contes d’Hoffmann is based on a play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré that itself draws upon short stories by E the only true opera by the famed composer of operetta It was presented at the Met for the first time on January 11 and has been performed 277 times by the company prior to this season Gary Halvorson will direct the Live in HD presentation for cinemas and tenor Ben Bliss will host the transmission sharing exclusive behind-the-scenes content and interviews during the intermissions Bliss will star in the upcoming transmission of Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded on October 19 Fathom Events will also present two encores of Les Contes d’Hoffmann on Wednesday The 2024–25 Live in HD season continues with Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded (October 19 with encores on October 23) Puccini’s Tosca (November 23 with encores on December 4) Verdi’s Aida (January 25 with encores on January 29 and February 1) Beethoven’s Fidelio (March 15 with encores on March 19) Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (April 26 with encores on April 30) Strauss’s Salome (May 17 with encores on May 21) and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (May 31 with encores on June 4) All performances will be Saturday matinees transmitted live from the Met stage the award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts now in its 18th season is available in more than 1,800 theaters in 60 countries this season LondonDamiano Michieletto’s production of Offenbach’s opéra fantastique is full of warped wit and devilish touches with a fine cast bringing this colourful fever-dream to life carnivalesque staging goes to the dark sideThis article is more than 5 months oldRoyal Opera House Heavily sequined dancers appear throughout presumably a precaution taken with the long work’s slower moments in mind had more fun than Esposito as the piece’s multiple villains his cartoonishness in perfect balance with Flórez’s sincerity If a bottle of absinthe left onstage throughout suggests it’s all a colourful fever-dream Michieletto reveals its nightmare qualities Until 1 December If you are an existing subscriber to Gramophone, International Piano or Choir & Organ and would like to upgrade, please contact us here or call +44 (0)1722 716997 The International Leather Goods Fair (ILM) has announced its dates for 2026 Messe Offenbach is relying on tried and tested strategies and close integration with other industry events ILM #163 will take place from February 7 to 9 The choice of this date was deliberately made on the same weekend as the Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt "We are relying on concentrated power in the accessories sector and are convinced that we will attract even more international visitors with this scheduling," explained Arnd Hinrich Kappe To make it easier to visit both trade fairs a shuttle service will be set up between Offenbach and Frankfurt ILM #164 will also remain true to the tried and tested schedule and will take place from August 29 to 31 "The date corresponds to the changed ordering behavior of buyers and gives retailers and exhibitors early planning security," emphasizes Kappe The late summer date has proven to be ideal for international trade ILM #162 will take place from August 30 to September 1 Around 300 brands will present their new collections for spring and summer 2026 A comprehensive supporting program promises additional impetus for the industry In German and French language with German and English surtitles The poet Hoffmann thinking of his beloved Stella is determined to steer Hoffmann away from his unhappy love and back to art Hoffmann begins recounting the stories of three women he once loved: Olympia director Lotte de Beer creates a dialogue between Hoffmann and the Muse a confrontation between art and the artist Jacques Offenbach’s name remains synonymous with operetta he worked on his most ambitious masterpiece: the fantastic opera Les contes d’Hoffmann Co-production with the Opéra National du Rhin the Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique and the Opéra de Reims Coming off the back of a shock victory over Borussia Dortmund proved to be all the motivation Jess Thorup's troops needed tonight against a determined Schalke side The 2.Bundesliga outfit gave it as good as they got but not even the Royal Blues could stop the Alexis Claude-Maurice show as Augsburg sealed their place in the last 16 of the DfB Pokal The match-defining moment arrived in the 26th-minute as Augsburg broke the deadlock Gouweleeuw found Claude-Maurice in a pocket of space on the edge of the box before he was forced out briefly Onyeka slipped the pass into the Frenchman's path at the second time of asking which initiated the shot The ball appeared to catch a clump of turf on its way to the net which took it over the outstretched hands of the unfortunate Heekeren in the Schalke goal.  Die Knappen ramped up their efforts after the interval with a neat chance afforded to Murkin who was denied by Finn Dahmen on a rare start for the goalkeeper this campaign the German shot-stopper had to stoop and gather the ball from his net on 70 minutes however the offside flag came to his rescue Paul Seguin's cross was converted by Karaman but the Turkish striker was clearly beyond the last defender.  The result was put beyond doubt on the 87th-minute as Arne Meier secured victory Schalke's misfortune was epitomised in a matter of minutes as the strike caught Felipe Sanchez in the wall and wrong-footed Heerken completely Samuel Essende chipped in on the action late on as Kömür played the one-two before the Congolese striker fired home from an offside position the goal stood and Augsburg advanced in style.  Regionalliga Südwest side Kickers Offenbach witnessed their cup aspirations dashed by a strong second-half performance from Karlsruhe Although it remained scoreless at the break Budu Zivzivadze punished the hosts just after the hour - Pfeiffer's pass fell to the Georgian who swivelled to drive his shot past Brinkies.  Jung attempted to finish from the corner but his effort fell kindly for Marcel Beifuß The 22-year-old composed himself before picking out the corner with a powerful right-footed finish Offenbach’s fantastical opera kicks off the Metropolitan Opera’s season of Live in HD performance transmissions starring French tenor Benjamin Bernheim in the title role of the tormented poet Joining Bernheim are American soprano Erin Morley as Olympia South African soprano Pretty Yende as Antonia and French mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine as Giulietta to complete Hoffmann’s trio of lovers Marco Armiliato conducts Bartlett Sher’s evocative production which also features American bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the Four Villains and Russian mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya in her company debut as Nicklausse.Conductor: Marco ArmiliatoProduction: Bartlett SherSet Designer: Michael YearganCostume Designer: Catherine ZuberLighting Designer: James F Leadership support forBAM’s strategic initiatives provided by: Leadership support for BAM Access Programs provided by the Jerome L Leadership support forBAM Film provided byThe Thompson Family Foundation Major support for The Met: Live in HD provided in memory ofJoan Kronick Check out our The Met: Live in HD FAQ for more information Join BAM Membership to save $5 on special screenings get 50% off regular-price movies and live performance benefits all year long Memberships start at $85 ($65 for seniors) BAM offers pre-screening discussions with a noted opera expert before every presentation unless noted otherwise Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera conducted in its Met premiere by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin wrestles with often-overlooked issues created by 21st-century warmaking Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera Offenbach’s fantastical Les Contes d’Hoffmann kicks off the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD season French tenor Benjamin Bernheim is the titular tormented poet in Offenbach’s fantastical opera Extraordinary soprano Lise Davidsen stars as the passionate titular diva with tenor Freddie De Tommaso making his eagerly anticipated company debut in David McVicar’s thrilling production Extraordinary soprano Lise Davidsen stars in David McVicar’s thrilling production Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217info@BAM.org BAM is a 501(c)(3) | EIN 11-2201344​ © Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave® and Teknopolis® are trademarks of Brooklyn Academy of Music Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann; Juan Diego Florez conductor: Antonello Manacorda: Royal Opera HouseReviewed 10 November 2024 An evening of vivid fun that presents Offenbach's complex opera as a star vehicle in a grand setting without essaying any musicological complexity what shape would his opera The Tales of Hoffmann have taken That is a question that has tantalised musicologists The discovery of the majority of the surviving manuscripts means we have access to everything the composer wrote But that does not mean we know Offenbach's final thoughts the opera was brought to form by Ernest Guiraud who turned dialogue into recitative as would have been necessary if the work was to be performed at the Paris Opera and at opera houses outside France But would the composer have been satisfied with the rather baggy work that results or would have have preferred the pacier version with dialogue whose edition has been long superseded by more recent developments With its designs by Paolo Fantin and Carla Teti the production was very grand indeed and extremely busy Michieletto's conception is apparent from the opening when Christine Rice's muse of poetry appears not as the spirit of wine but as the incarnation of la fée verte (complete with green hair and a penchant for green glitter) launching each act with a cascade of green glitter Clearly the stories are the result of Hoffmann's absinthe-inspired fever dream Rice's muse is accompanied by six glitter-green dances and they pop up regularly throughout the evening whilst Alex Esposito's baddie has a pair of purple glitter clad men with red glitter nipples Lindorf's encounter with Stella (Maria Leon) in the prologue sees her clad in similar purple glitter and in the Epilogue Dance also features in Act Two as Antonia (Ermonello Jaho) is recast as a dancer complete with a vision of herself as a young girl (a poised performance from Beatrice Hope Henley) and a cast of classical dancers including the vision of Antonia's mother (voiced by Christine Rice).  The result was a series of spare but stylish sets filled with colour and movement Michieletto tries to make sense of the opera by having the three episodes as Hoffmann at three different ages to try to make sense of the piece rather than simply accepting that it is a work of fantasy as ETA Hoffmann's tales are none too comfortable Juan Diego Florez makes an ardent Hoffmann singing with a nice sense of line though a tendency to push out the top notes It is in the quieter moments that he impressed most Hoffmann is one of the heavier roles in Florez' repertoire and in a smaller theatre with an historical approach to performing the work as in a more sympathetic setting this would be a notable performance Alex Esposito hammed and camped it up as the four villains He combined darkness of tone with the necessary freedom at the top needed in the role though I could have wished his performance had more subtlety and less ham in it Julie Boulianne was a charming and sly Niklausse (the role separated from the Muse) Boulianne gamely took on the parrot persona and made Niklausse's wry comments about the action work delightfully as well as singing her solos with great style.  We had four different performers as the heroines rather than the single singer as Offenbach seems to have intended Maria Leon incarnated Stella in the prologue (and Leon went on to other silent roles in the performance) Olga Pudova did everything she was required as the doll Olympia as well as producing dazzling coloratura Jaho threw herself into the role literally as she spent rather a lot of time falling down Marina Costa-Jackson did what she could with Giulietta looking sexy and singing the Barcarolle with style Christophe Mortagne sang the four character tenor parts though only as Franz (here a ballet master) was he able to make an impact The smaller roles were all well taken with Jeremy White as Luther Ryan Vaughan Davies and Siphe Kwani as students Vincent Ordonneau as Spalanzani and Alastair Miles as Crespel If you accepted that we were hearing a traditional version with recitatives then the result was a brilliant evening in the theatre Michielette and Manacorda did not manage to convince me that the Prologue would not be better without some cuts those student choruses do go on a bit and there is only so much 'Kleinzack' that I can cope with The attractions of this production will very much depend on who the Royal Opera House manages to convince to sing the title role The blog is free, but I'd be delighted if you were to show your appreciation by buying me a coffee TCNJ Orchestra reenacted the works of Beethoven Offenbach and more at its concert led by Uli Speth TCNJ Orchestra performed its “Centuries of Drama” concert on March 7 in Mayo Concert Hall a beautiful portrayal of dramatic symphonies led by conductor Uli Speth Starting the concert was an overture to “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka Glinka was a composer outside of Russia during the 19th century “Ruslan and Lyudmila” was a Russian poem first written by Alexander Pushkin noted as the “Father of Russian Literature.” The poem told the story of Ruslan Next was “Danza delle Ore,” or Dance of the Hours “La Gioconda“ is based on the play “Angelo Tyrant of Padua” by Victor Hugo and includes a ballet interlude “Danza delle Ore” is a light reprieve from the drama “La Gioconda.” “The ballet is split into five sections each representing a part of a day starting with a quiet The piece then transitions into the day part with the most recognizable tune played by the upper strings pompous melody to usher in dusk and play through the night,” according to the playbill all of these pieces make the Dance of the Hours a “timeless classic” among orchestras The strings performed in unison to create a magnificent rendition of “Danza delle Ore,” a song most famously heard in Walt Disney’s “Fantasia” in 1940 “Sturm und Drang,” or “Storm and Stress,” was a “proto-romantic movement” in the late 18th century inspired by Maximilian von Klinger who created “some of the most dramatic music” pieces that were born to introduce the romantic period Beethoven composed “Pastoral” which is made up of five movements; played at the concert were “IV Happy and Thankful Feelings After the Storm,” which succeeds three peaceful movements This symphony was revolutionary because it differed from the usual make-up of the three lighter movements and has a triumphant finale The final two movements are filled with drama conducting the orchestra through this dramatic performance “I really enjoy working under professor Uli Speth He truly devotes so much of his life into music and his passion for it shows whether it’s talking to him one on one or when he’s conducting the entire orchestra,” said senior biology major and principal second violin player Cecelia Lawyer “He is extremely supportive and as a non-music major in the orchestra I will always appreciate the welcoming environment he provides for those like me.” Following Beethoven was “Siegfried's Funeral March” from “Götterdämmerung” by Richard Wagner Detesting the title of “opera,” he labeled his works as musikdramas “Götterdämmerung“ is the last and longest work in his musikdrama series — five hours long and split into three acts “Siegfried's Funeral March” is the climax of the show where Siegfried has been betrayed by a friend Wrapping up the concert was an overture from “Orphée aux Enfers” by Jacques Offenbach “Orphée aux Enfers” tells an Opéra Bouffon version of the tragic and beautiful story of Orpheus and Eurydice Orpheus is happy Eurydice was taken away and the reluctant Orpheus has to ask permission to get her back This “Centuries of Drama” concert consisted of beautiful storytelling renditions from the works of some of the most famous composers in history The orchestra put on a riveting one hour performance that kept its audience captivated and entranced Lawyer described the show as very exciting “Those who are invested in orchestral music would have been familiar with the Offenbach piece as it has the famous Cancan theme,” Lawyer said “It was also fun performing Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours as I had listened to the piece for years but never been able to perform it the Wagner clearly evokes the feeling of solemness which added to the drama of the concert.”  The TCNJ Orchestra will perform its final concert of the semester on May 2 Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann is an exasperating tragicomic hybrid Exasperating not just because of its ramshackle construction — three of the writer ETA Hoffmann’s fantastical stories loosely presented as a sozzled old man surveying his less than glorious love life — but also because Offenbach still rustled up a feast of catchy tunes and you wish he’d found a more coherent dramatic framework for them But credit to the Royal Opera and the three other companies round the world that have co-produced Damiano Michieletto’s new staging Within Paolo Fantin’s surreal sets you get a dozen ballet dancers (and the mandatory camp balletmaster) constantly flitting Award-winning director Damiano Michieletto directs a stellar cast in a new production of Jacques Offenbach’s dream-like opera which runs on the Main Stage at Royal Ballet & Opera from 7 November to 1 December 2024 Juan Diego Flórez and Leonardo Caimi share the role of poet E.T.A Hoffmann with Ermonela Jaho Olga Pudova and Marina Costa-Jackson singing the poet’s trio of lovers Alex Esposito sings the Four Villains and Julie Boulianne is Nicklausse Pudova and Costa-Jackson both make their debuts with The Royal Opera “I imagined Les Contes d’Hoffmann as a journey through time a look into the different ages of the protagonist: the child all represented by the female protagonists Olympia Stella will end the story by destroying Hoffmann’s illusions with all the symbols of his fantasy past world all representing his poetic universe.“ Michieletto reunites with conductor Antonello Manacorda with whom he collaborated on The Royal Opera’s recent new production of Carmen (2024) The director’s career has seen him work with the world’s leading opera houses including Dutch National Opera & Ballet His production of Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci for The Royal Opera won an Olivier Award in 2015 The creative team also includes set designer Paolo Fantin lighting designer Alessandro Carletti and choreographer Chiara Vecchi Cinema audiences can experience the imaginative and colourful staging on 15 January 2025 with an Encore performance on 19 January 2025 The Tales of Hoffmann is a co-production with Opera Australia I have read and agree to the terms & conditions Contact us: info@theartsshelf.com HOMEABOUT USMEET THE TEAMPRIVACY POLICYADVERTISING INFOCONTACT Composers Gioachino Rossini and Jacques Offenbach are mostly known for a small part of their voluminous output for the lyric stage Rossini achieved fame for his 39 operas before abruptly leaving the genre behind at the surprising young age of 37 He lived and composed for another 40 years but didn’t write any other theatrical works Many of Offenbach’s hundred or so stage works are not heard very frequently these days aside from Orpheus in the Underworld and The Tales of Hoffmann and Oberlin Opera Theater will present two of them in four performances at Oberlin College’s Hall Auditorium Offenbach’s operetta Le mariage aux lanternes ("The Wedding by Lantern Light") and Rossini’s burletta L'occasione fa il ladro ("Opportunity Makes a Thief")—have never been presented on Oberlin stages before Both are double cast with Oberlin Con­servatory vocal performance students led by con­ductor and Oberlin alumnus Joseph Mechavich ’92 Longtime opera professor Jonathon Field is directing the production Offenbach’s Le mariage aux lanternes has been described as a semi-hidden gem The farce—a simple love story set in a country village—consists of an overture and seven musical numbers connected by spoken dialogue one of the most prolific French librettists of his time Following this will be Rossini’s L'occasione fa il ladro written when the composer had just turned twenty It offers an early taste of the great masterpieces that flowed from Rossini's pen—delightful comedy and an orchestral overture with some of his signature storm music This work—a comedic romp where identities and affections are swapped between two pairs of would-be lovers—will be sung in Italian with English supertitles This production will be one of the last at Oberlin for director Jonathon Field He has announced his retirement as associate professor of opera theater after the academic year ends Field has been at the helm of Oberlin Opera Theater since 1997 he has directed more than 120 opera productions across the United States working with companies including the Lyric Opera of Chicago He is fascinated with traditional as well as modern stage techniques and he has developed and been using video-projected scenery for more than 25 years in productions that have been called “brilliant,” “dazzling” and “riveting.” “Each opera has its individual flavor that comes from the countries of origin: France and Italy,” says Field “The French opera deals with the rustic life that was still a part of the culture with songs that everyone can enjoy even now.  “The Italian work has a more complex plot dealing with mistaken identities and mixed up luggage which we are calling ‘Love's Luggage Lost.’  Our design and technical team have created worlds that are modern yet keep the unique flavor of each piece. We are also fortunate to have with us alumnus Joseph Mechavich as guest conductor.” Mechavich has established a leading position on the modern music podium with breakthrough productions of contemporary operas such as Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick Out of Darkness: Two Remain, and Three Decembers as well as Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah Of Mice and Men, and Wuthering Heights, to name a few Mechavich will be on the podium for La Boheme La Cenerentola, and The Gift of the Magi at Kentucky Opera where he serves as principal conductor and artistic consultant He’ll also return to Opera North Carolina for Don Giovanni “It will be a unique opportunity to see these pieces and,” he winks “it’s two operas for the price of one!” TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW: Oberlin Opera Theater’s Le mariage aux lanternes ("The Wedding by Lantern Light") and L'occasione fa il ladro ("Opportunity Makes a Thief") will be performed at 8 p.m November 10-12; the run concludes with a 2 p.m Tickets ($10, $8 for all students) are available by calling 800-371-0178, by visiting Central Ticket Service (67 N. Main St., Oberlin) noon to 5 p.m. weekdays, or through the online box office “Strum,” “Strike,” and “Bend” are all evocative references to the physicality of string and percussion instruments The vocalist and songwriter brings her distinct blend of folk and more to Finney Chapel on April 6 in an appearance with the Martha Redbone Roots Project “It was really amazing going into the community and performing an art form that they probably haven't seen before,” second-year voice major Ella Vaugn said “Teachers would tell us that they've never seen their students so engaged.” Oberlin has separate application processes for the College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music You have exceptional musical talent and intellectual enthusiasm.We have a place just for you Having all but sunk one seemingly unassailable opéra comique director Damiano Michieletto goes some way to helping out another with so many problems with its reams of recitative (mostly not by Offenbach) Nor does the theme of women as either dolls The real Hoffmann did it all so much better It’s a bizarre choice to turn her from a consumptive fledgling diva who if she sings too much will die to a former dancer having followed in her ballerina mother’s footsteps until illness consigned her to crutches and a wheelchair (Jaho pictured below with Alex Esposito's Doctor Miracle) Why would Hoffmann be puzzled by her father’s removing her from his tender attentions Whereas there's no disguising the fatal disability here How much stumbling and collapsing does Jaho have to do What can be an affecting act may look pretty at times; Paolo Fantin's sets Carla Teti'a costumes and Alessandro Carletti's lighting always deliver But the telling of the tale falters at every point there's not much to be done with the annoying servant Frantz (Christophe Mortagne so ir'a fair enough to turn him in to a ballet master mocked by some rather scary little girls in tutus I suspect those seated high up couldn’t see Antonia as she sings her aria from her bed inside one of several high-up recesses but from the stalls we couldn’t hear her well either Juan Diego Flórez is overparted as Hoffmann and as an actor nowhere close to Domingo in the classic Schlesinger Royal Opera production; he shows off far too often his ringing top notes - many uncalled for - but the steely-bright tenor needs more weight above all to carry against two basses (Alex Esposito and Alastair Miles) in the dramatically otiose male trio The second and climactic of the trios gets overcluttered with dancers because a lot of Michieletto’s busy-ness works especially in the Prologue with the spirits of wine devils flanking the first of the four villains played to the hilt by the reverberating Alex Esposito the drinking crowd all working overtime to paper over the cracks gets moved from a salon where she’s the object of admiring society to a schoolroom with Hoffmann in short trousers and lots of mathematics Olga Pudova (pictured above with the chorus) pips out all the high notes as written and much more but not with quite as much panache as the best coloratura I’ve seen in ages Sharleen Joynt singing Donizetti and Bernstein in Wexford His shadow-snatcher courtesan is Marina Costa-Jackson (pictured below on the right in the Act Three ensemble) strutting like a Hollywood film star in a not especially Venetian casino and forceful in projection though it’s hard to believe she’s been singing Puccini’s Lauretta and Suor Angelica; this is surely more a mezzo who’d make a strong Azucena and Eboli Pacing is erratic: Antonello Manacorda gets the orchestra to sparkle and thrust in the livelier numbers but needs to keep the more sentimental stuff on the move There’s not much he can do about the epilogue: the currently-favoured ending cutting second verses of those endless couplets and replacing recits with minimal spoken dialogue And why won’t the Royal Opera dare to stage a much better Hoffmann-based opera no exceptions!  Poor JDF either can't act or wasn't allowed to but his voice was wonderful when he wasn't shoved to an upstage corner Unfortunately I can't unsee him in uniform short pants and dunce cap Completely agree on all your criticism of this production - design staging and transitions - which times out at 4 hours mostly the chorus in their street clothes shuffling chairs on and off while men in tutus and nipple covers dance about The realisations of the libretto's 3 main tales are not clever or even interesting.  But Offenbach's music made it worth one viewing I can only assume/hope that the money saved on these bare stage productions are put into a singer's budget sets and above all lighting which carried off a sense of abundance even if the means were minimal just not the ideas for Olympia or Antonia (the ludicrous idea of changing her from a singer to a dancer) More information about text formats We urgently need financing to survive. 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And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday Simply enter your email address in the box below View previous newsletters 17 Apr 2025 17:00:00 GMT?.css-1txiau5-AnswerContainer{color:var(--GlobalColorScheme-Text-secondaryText2);}Kickers Offenbach won 3–1 over FC 08 Villingen on Thu Predicted lineups are available for the match a few days in advance while the actual lineup will be available about an hour ahead of the match The current head to head record for the teams are Kickers Offenbach 0 win(s) Have scored 10 goals in their last 5 matches Who won between Kickers Offenbach and FC 08 Villingen on Thu 17 Apr 2025 17:00:00 GMT?Kickers Offenbach won 3–1 over FC 08 Villingen on Thu 17 Apr 2025 17:00:00 GMT.InsightsHave scored 7 goals in their last 5 matches Kickers Offenbach is playing home against FC 08 Villingen on Thu Isabel Leonard and Ramin Karimloo star in Washington National Opera’s Songbird Operetta is a guilty pleasure occasionally indulged by most opera companies. Washington National Opera has mounted Bernstein’s Candide The company has now gotten around to Jacques Offenbach’s La Périchole but as reimagined in a jazz idiom and set in 1920s New Orleans opened Saturday night in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater set to a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy originally told the story of a pair of Peruvian performers on the streets of Lima These starving artists are duped into a scheme to get married so that La Périchole can become the mistress of the Viceroy of Peru The character was based on a real woman in the 18th century who became the basis of the operetta’s source play by Prosper Mérimée Director Eric Sean Fogel (who co-directed the original show with Francesca Zambello) and lyricist Kelley Rourke have updated the work to New Orleans in this extremely truncated version of the operetta created for the Glimmerglass Festival It was better suited to that festival’s pandemic-era outdoor theater this airy bit of musical fluff fell flat when transferred indoors and ultimately felt like a waste of resources in an already thin WNO season Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard is nonetheless charming in the title role with believable dance moves including a modest bit of tap dancing and a winning stage presence She brought natural ease and wit to the character’s music which remained the most alluring parts of the work: the Letter Song (“O mon cher amant”) quel dîner,” and especially “Tu n’es pas beau Her Piquillo was Broadway actor Ramin Karimloo which seemed a calculated bit of casting to draw in a non-operatic audience which is about as un-operatic an experience as could be imagined which sounded wooden and at times was far too loud only drew attention to the differences in vocal quality between Karimloo and the opera singers around him The technicolor villain of baritone Edward Nelson whose Don Andrès is transformed into the mayor of New Orleans He camped it up in the Couplets de l’Incognito where he put on a few costumes to show how he liked to sneak about unrecognized that real-life Mardi gras parade outfit even has as its theme song a tune from a musical Singers from the Cafritz Young Artists program filled out the rest of the cast although most of the solo work was carried by the three leads worked far too hard to bring off an endless series of terrible puns passing as jokes Many of the choral numbers ended up on the cutting room floor but soprano Teresa Perrotta provided solid high notes in those that remained James Lowe’s jazz arrangement impressed with its adept and fluid style complete with Dixieland touches from banjo player Jim Roberts and sousaphonist Andrew Hitz Clarinetist David Jones wailed on some solid licks including a funny turn where he came out from the band’s place at the back of the stage to interact with Nelson and Rourke’s lyrics often retain parts of the original French texts The single set depicted the Café des Muses (designed by James F which made less and less sense as the evening proceeded through the scenes set outdoors and in a prison Costumes by Marsha Leboeuf and Timm Burrow (original designs by Christelle Matou) evoked New Orleans especially in the parade scene in the final scene (designed by Robert Wierzel) Songbird runs through March 23. kennedy-center.org  Subscribe via RSS Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article though often heard in instrumental transcriptions Like the play, the opera is based on three of the psychologically complicated and fantastic stories of the German Romantic author and composer E.T.A. Hoffmann Those stories are “Der Sandmann” (“The Sandman”) and “Die Geschichte vom verlorenen Spiegelbilde” (“The Story of the Lost Reflection”) The opera was intended for the 1877–78 season at Paris’s Théâtre de la Gaîté-Lyrique though Offenbach missed the deadline by a large margin the theatre’s managers brought in composer Ernest Guiraud to finish the opera in time for its long-delayed premiere not only opera directors but also conductors and musicologists have taken on the task of reimagining Hoffmann One particularly notable version was crafted by American musicologist Michael Kaye restored music for the muse Nicklausse and expanded the Giulietta act those and other changes that Kaye suggests attracted a strong following and it may yet become the standard version of Hoffmann Evidence reveals that Offenbach intended one soprano to perform all the roles and one baritone as well so as to clarify the notion that those different characters are different aspects of a single personality as their four roles resemble each other in music style make quite different demands upon the voice—from light coloratura to intense drama—so it requires an exceptional soprano to take on all roles I couldn’t love anyone who didn’t love Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann Everything – everything – is stacked against this opera Offenbach left the score unfinished when he died tormented with gout and pilloried by bores Some of its best-loved numbers were upcycled from his earlier hits it soars: a tale of disillusion that glows with wonder and hope; a hymn to the sweetness of life and the miracle of art held together against all logic by the sheer charisma of a composer who shot for the moon and fell among the stars ‘Opéra fantastique’ was Offenbach’s own description I’m not saying that Michieletto doesn’t care about this opera does Damiano Michieletto – the director of the Royal Opera’s new production – love The Tales of Hoffmann Does he love it with the kind of irrational delirious passion that it deserves and demands In his own way – superficially chilly and slightly too knowing like so many modern directors – perhaps he does A monstrous eyeball swivels above the stage during the tale of Olympia (Olga Pudova) Child ballerinas pirouette in tutus and ghostly cellos descend from the skies as poor Antonia (Ermonela Jaho) prepares to sing herself to death Hoffmann’s Muse (Christine Rice) is preceded by a bevy of green-clad dancers These hallucinations are fuelled by something stronger than beer and melancholy and we see Hoffmann (who ages from schoolboy to grey-haired wreck over the course of the action) slumped over his absinthe in a sparsely furnished bar there’s nothing gratuitous here: certainly brothel scenes and Freudianism-for-Dummies of recent continental stagings Richard Bratby is the chief classical music critic of The Spectator Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3 Already a subscriber? Log in Odyssey Opera presented at the Huntington Avenue Theater last night what is surely the wackiest and bounciest treatment of her fabled story Offenbach’s operetta La belle Hélène (Beautiful Helen); the show repeats Sunday afternoon June 18th is the 200th anniversary of Offenbach’s birth.) Offenbach’s two operettas making use of ancient myth and legend Beautiful Helen and Orpheus in the Underworld both filled with tunes that are still familiar to modern audiences largely because they were extensively used in a 20th-century ballet score assembled by Manuel Rosenthal for Leonid Massine in 1938 produced texts for Offenbach for nearly 20 years (while also writing libretti for Bizet’s Carmen and Massenet’s Manon) and created delightfully absurd situations again and again But the “Greek” librettos had a sharp edge; it was not simply a playful treatment of a familiar mythological story writing for the German Deutschlandfunk Kultur (German Radio Culture) this weekend noted: “The gaze swept across the distance When Jacques Offenbach set an operetta in ancient Greece His contemporaries played along with this game all too cheerfully—and whoever found himself represented in it could be proud of the fact.”        the operetta that Odyssey Opera produced this weekend was considered from the outset as a satire and costume designer Brooke Stanton have produced a twofold production that takes place in the 1860s at a French seaside resort of Napoleon III and in Greece shortly before the start of the Trojan War (They are ably abetted by Karen Perlow’s lighting and Rachel Shufelt’s hair and makeup designs.) It might seem counterproductive to put the cast sometimes in elegant 19th costume and sometimes in something more or less Greek—all the more so when they appear in the same act But the flow of designs—from modern to ancient (beginning in Act I and returning from ancient to modern in Act III with the middle act entirely in “Greek” dress—actually works very well and provides both variety and color and allows references to French culture in the late 19th century to make their humorous effects seeing the show 155 years after its original production may be unfamiliar with the details of both ancient Greek and 19th-century French references Laura Stanfield Prichard’s excellent program note points some of these elements: The fact that word games were very popular at Napoleon’s court (and are parodied in Act I) and that references to French paintings at the time of composition will help prepare audiences for several surprises—including Paris’s description to the priest Calchas of the three goddesses who asked him to select the most beautiful and award a golden apple to his choice; he chose Venus who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world for choosing her As Paris sings the three verses of his song describing the competition the best and most surprising artistic reference was a tableau vivant of Manet’s famous (and scandalous) Déjeuner sur l’herbe scandalous at the time because Manet’s painting (with two elegant Frenchmen sharing a collation outdoors with a naked woman) got the paining rejected from the Salon jury in 1863—immediately before Offenbach composed Helen Another painter referenced throughout is Edouard Degas for his many representation of ballerinas adopting one of Degas’s best-known poses for a dancer—simultaneously taking the place of a distant bather in Manet’s painting Having been alerted to the presence of these tableaux I strongly suspected that some of the other images and personages onstage were also references to paintings that I couldn’t quite put my finger on Roller skates might seem out of place in Helen’s boudoir (Act II) but a couple of the ladies in the chorus wear them to represent a current fad and the hot air balloon that takes Paris and Helen away to Troy at the end is another fad of the time Among the Kings of Greece famous from the Iliad we meet Agamemnon and his young son Orestes (a “pants part,” played by a woman) Achilles (with a bronze protector on his left heel to which the others make frequent reference There are two kings named Ajax; here they are a very droll pair who throughout the operetta share a single tunic the essence of the operetta is Offenbach’s bubbly score There are patter elements both for soloists and chorus as well as several lilting walzes (the one to which Paris woos Helen is especially seductive) As has been the case with earlier operetta productions by Odyssey Opera we found the musical side of La belle Hélène in good hands Music director Gil Rose has the measure of this score both in its laughter and its occasional lyric poignancy almost identical in size and makeup to that used by Arthur Sullivan in England but also in the superb representation by mezzo Ginger Costa-Jackson She could range from serious upset that “Fate” (thunderclap in the distance) has marked her out for this complicated situation though the fact remains that she doesn’t especially love her husband Her part includes from the loving waltz with Paris late in Act II as well as a lively “Apple” cadenza in Act I that comes across as a parody of many an operatic mad scene—only far funnier Tenor Adam Fisher could hardly be bettered as Paris the simple shepherd whom fate has treated with such an extraordinary luck—if only he can find and abduct the woman he has been promised by Venus effectively seductive in the boudoir scene with Helen He seemed not quite warmed up at the beginning on Friday night but came fully into his own when it counted but always seems ready to be a little corrupt to smooth things along He took a droll approach both in his singing and his acting In some respects the part of Menelaus is an ungrateful one not simply because his wife is eager to get away from him but because he has less to sing than the aforementioned singers and his part truly becomes grateful only late in the second act—but there Alan Schneider turned it on and expressed his frustration with his wife—especially after a returns unexpectedly from a journey and finds her in bed with Paris The various kings of Greece were all represented in quite different personalities and the singers who undertook them made effective differentiation David McFerrin took the role of the stalwart “king of kings” who would shortly be called upon to lead an army of Greeks to Troy (There is a brief foreshadowing of the future tragic roles of father and son at the end of the Trojan War but here they pass as comic references.) Christian Figueroa has a manly physique and voice but they are turned here to comic service as the narcissistic Achilles who can be humiliated by references to his problematic heel trapped as they are in their “onesie” tunic despite the difference in height that makes them automatically a comic duo All of the kings have a verse in a funny song of introduction when they arrive in Act I for the game of wits and get drawn into the strange goings-on regarding Helen Mara Bonde elegantly fills a small role as Bacchis Two women who arrive as playmates of Orestes—Felicia Gavalanes Loena and Rachele Schmiege as Parthoenis—are amusingly outgoing with their generosity to most of the men in the cast at one time or another Choreographer Marjorie Folkman created the elegant dances for the entire company as well as those for Helen and Paris The playfulness of Offenbach’s work is always a joy to experience we heard “a new English translation by Richard Duployen.” We wondered since Richard Duployen currently performs in the English theater I assume that the translation debuted over the water I always anticipate one delightful joke from a French recording that I have lived with for a half century the orchestra plays a funny little out-of-tune fanfare at the end of each round I ordered it for this occasion.” The line is clearly meant to refer to Wagner’s Tannhäuser which had been produced in the “Paris version” in 1861 By the time the German-born Offenbach reached his adulthood I missed this little dig at the most well-known German composer of the day the new English translation worked very well but there were more places than I would have liked where I simply could not make out the words because the words came across well with Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience in the same theater two years ago Wondering whether my location caused this effect I asked several musician and reviewer if they were having the same problem because the choral singing seemed very crisp and together Offenbach can often be challenging to sing because sometimes the words pass incredibly fast (even more so than in a G&S patter song); in this operetta that occurs in the lively passage in which the kings of Greece introduce themselves individually And sometimes Offenbach breaks up the words into individual syllables and plays with those Singing them in translation could introduce even more difficulties the brio and lively charm of Offenbach’s music always wins one over and this production provided joy from beginning to end Steven Ledbetter is a freelance writer and lecturer on music He got his BA from Pomona College and PhD from NYU in Musicology He taught at Dartmouth College in the 1970s then became program annotator at the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1997 4 Comments » Categories Reviews 4 Comments [leave a civil comment (others will be removed) and please disclose relevant affiliations]Delicious indeed!!! and made three hours of Offenbach worth it the three paintings of reclining nude women that represented Athena and Venus (the most reclining of all) were by Ingres … and the one with the life nude was a Tableau Vivant So someone else had difficulty with the words This production did NOT use supertitles–and they were missed–but at least they weren’t in the wrong place unlike in the BEMF’s Orlando where it was woe to the balcony The word-game of wits was on au-to-mo-bile instead of lo-co-mo-tive with appropriate changes to the “Bangsian” dialogue to follow regarding how it hadn’t been invented yet (There was an American author John Kendrick Bangs who was to elevate anachronisms to a high art form by the turn of the century; that story technique is called Bangsian Romance.) So this was a “new” translation From the program notes I was trying to decipher how much this version was based on A Herbert’s work in the 1930’s for a London production where the au-to-mo-bile gag would have worked better a delightful evening; now I’ve seen the Offenbach “Big Five” fully staged I think “Orpheus auf der Unterwelt” (my 102-year-old father calls it that: his father sang German versions of it) has better tunes and Gerolstein has a spectacular set-piece explaining the “Billy Vanderbilt” cartoon of a diminutive William Henry [“Billy”] Vanderbilt wielding a badly-nicked “Le Sabre du mon Papa” against his opponents but thanks to Odyssey for closing their season with a rare staging of this work–now the La belle Helene Waltz is going through my head Comment by Nathan Redshield — June 18 I agree with both your reviewer and with “jerry.” Some of the most delightful aspects of this production were the sly references to art—all the art more or less contemporaneous with Offenbach “Jerry” has misremembered the third of the three nudes descending into view during Paris’s “Judgment” aria—it’s not a Bouguereau but Alexandre Cabanel’s “Birth of Venus.” And aren’t all three paintings—directly or indirectly seriously or satirically— really versions of Venus RSS feed for comments on this post. If you would like to contribute articles or reviews to the Intelligencer, please familiarize yourself with our submission guidelines.  Subscribe to the Intelligencer. most life-affirming opera recordings I have heard in a long time because the work’s social satire also targets the smug self-satisfaction and careless cruelty of the powerful Alexandre Duhamel (the viceroy Don Andrès) La Périchole is one of Offenbach’s most frequently performed operettas is the first-rate solo music for the title character a nickname whose meaning is obscure—perhaps something like “lowly dog.” Périchole is an impoverished street singer infatuated with her singing partner Piquillo though she recognizes that he is rather dimwitted (at one point she calls him a fool: nigaud) He is certainly less effective than she at getting café patrons I also became enchanted with those two singers’ voices and performing personalities I suppose something similar happened to audience members in Offenbach’s own day was widely hailed for her singing and acting despite the German family name) became a kind of muse to Offenbach He wrote leading roles for her in some of his most renowned stage works including La belle Hélène (based on the legend of Helen of Troy) “La Snéder” (as she was sometimes called) is reported to have led a scandalous life including periods of time as mistress to various powerful men may have added further spice to the plot of La Périchole to enter into a liaison with the viceroy of Peru but making multiple allusions to social attitudes of the day and suggesting possible parallels not just to Schneider but to figures in political life (e.g. are the egotistical Spanish viceroy of Peru who often roams the city in disguise (so he can spy on the populace and also have affairs with beautiful women) and two officials who do his bidding in order to keep their jobs notaries and ladies of the court) help move the plot along while also demonstrating much moral shabbiness (e.g. the exotic setting—a Spanish-colonial capital in South America—stands more or less for mid-nineteenth-century France we meet the two impoverished and starving street singers plying their art The viceroy of Peru invites Périchole to become his mistress in the palace He gets her and Piquillo drunk and arranges for them to marry so he can keep her as his mistress (i.e. When Piquillo sobers up and realizes that he has married the woman he loves but that she is also supposed to henceforth be the viceroy’s mistress he objects and is promptly put in a lockup for “recalcitrant husbands.”Périchole visits him who turns out to be the viceroy in disguise and has them put in chains The couple sing one more street song in the public square after which Périchole offers the viceroy the jewels she had stolen from his palace for fear that he might weep at the thought of breaking up such a happy couple Everybody joins in a final repetition of the refrain of the second of their three street songs which was about a conquistador and an Indian maiden: “[The couple’s child] will grow heavy-footed “Indian March” (perhaps with locals being paraded) and Périchole and Piquillo sing the song I just mentioned about a Spaniard This song arguably echoes France’s own current-day military conquests and colonial efforts in North Africa and elsewhere the conquistador calls his Indian maiden “Fatma”—a name strongly associated with the Arab world The greatest fascination of La Périchole derives from the title character’s behavior Her songs show very different aspects of her personality depending on what is going on then in the plot je te jure,” she sings a regretful waltz as she writes a letter bidding farewell to Piquillo (and not quite revealing to him that she has just accepted the viceroy’s offer of a room in the palace) quel dîner je viens de faire!”—another waltz-song—is usually performed (appropriately) with many hesitations and tempo slow-downs—and perhaps a hiccup or a slurred word or two—to indicate that she is “un peu grise” (a bit tipsy) from all that wonderful food and wine at the viceroy’s table A scene from the production of “La Périchole” recorded by the Bru Zane label  (at Opéra National de Bordeaux) despite being less alert and strategic than his beloved and these are actually more like true opera arias than any of Périchole’s an angry “Rondo de bravoure,” is similar to outbursts by many an enraged operatic hero such as Donizetti’s Edgardo (in Act 2 of Lucia di Lammermoor) It allows the tenor to show off his energetic singing and at least imply that Piquillo is worthy of Périchole’s affection The second song ends with a particularly touching slowdown (and much gentle orchestral commentary) as he falls asleep in his prison cell is written in a different manner; the last of them sounding somewhat Middle Eastern with unexpected chromatic notes and solo oboe—again an allusion to the current-day colonial exploits of France (in North Africa) rather than of Spain Several of the songs are repeated later in the work either in their entirety or just the refrain and often with new words or sung by different characters Offenbach and his skilled librettists (Meilhac and Halévy who together would write the libretto for Carmen) knew how to keep surprising us Offenbach also offers several numbers that are extensive and elaborate (e.g. and one (at the beginning of Act 2) that would seem of near tragic import to the ear though the onstage action makes it wholly satirical We see that four women of the court are trying to awaken a marquis who seems to be in a deep sleep Given the serious tone of the women’s music we may well wonder if the marquis has been and—in spoken dialogue—explains that the viceroy’s new mistress kept him awake for hours by her endless loud singing of the refrain to the conquistador-and-Indian-maiden song: “Il grandira (etc.) There have been numerous recordings of La Périchole—either entire or condensed—featuring under experienced opera conductors as eminent as Igor Markevitch from an English-language production at the Met which received 71 performances over the next 16 years was altered musically in basic ways; for example it reworked the leading-tenor role of the stupid Piquillo to be for baritone and music was cobbled together to turn the spoken role of the old prisoner into a comic-tenor part The performance that I saw when the Met came on tour to Boston in the late 1960s featured Teresa Stratas (replacing the production’s original heroine in the barely-needs-to-sing-but-hilarious role of the viceroy of Peru Cyril Ritchard (the British thespian who played Captain Hook in the beloved TV production of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin) The recording under review was made possible by the Center for French Romantic Music located at the Palazzetto Bru Zane (Venice) It is the 21st offering in the Center’s series of “CDs+book” devoted to French operas (The Center also puts out two other CDs+book series: “Portrait” volumes devoted to diverse works by a single composer and “Prix de Rome” volumes consisting of works written by important French composers Marc Minkowski shows an unerring sense for the perfect tempo and allows the players to phrase a line in a shapely manner or the singers to “point” their words he achieves very fine balances between singers and orchestra (One momentary oddity: in the three humorous statements by an a cappella men’s chorus toward the beginning of Act 2 the harmonies are hard to hear.) There is little noise from the audience despite the recording’s having been made during live performances A few moments of quiet chuckling pleasantly indicate some amusing onstage antics A scene from the production recorded by the Bru Zane label (at the Château de Versailles Spectacles) which ends with Péricole’s “Je t’adore brigand.”) but he doesn’t “act” much with it during the sung portions He is quite effective in the spoken dialogue It helps that all the singers are native French-speakers they maintain a beautiful line and excellent breath control while still conveying an immense range of emotional tones This is a recording that will wear well for years though some listeners may prefer at times to skip the spoken tracks The recording was made over the course of several staged performances that took place in 2018 in the renowned theater/opera house in Bordeaux, an intimate hall (1000 seats) dating back to 1780. (Moments from the production are shown in this short video.) Applause has been mercifully edited down to a minimum Scenes of spoken dialogue sometimes go on for several minutes—in one case I did sometimes have recourse to the book’s libretto and its (generally very capable occasionally too literal) translation in the hardcover book that comes with the two CDs because the way a character spoke the lines—huffily and so on—allowed me to imagine specific facial expressions There are a few quasi-improvised added touches such as a reference (in the dialogue) to The Merry Widow (1905) Some of these small changes are incorporated without comment into the printed libretto—don’t be fooled Another scene from the production recorded by the Bru Zane label (at Opéra National de Bordeaux) The accompanying book contains three highly informative and wittily written essays all of which deepen our understanding of this endlessly fascinating work the book is more frustrating to use than is usually the case with releases from the Center (at the Palazzetto): 1) In the process of editing the libretto to match what is heard some helpful or even crucial stage directions have disappeared (such as that in the middle of Act 3 the viceroy puts Périchole and Piquillo in chains) 2) In different places in the essays and listings a character may be referred to by any one of several different names It took me a while to figure out that Hinoyosa and the Gouverneur are all the same person 3) When musical numbers of the 1868 and 1874 versions of the work are mentioned the writers may give the original numbering in the respective version but never refer to the track number in the recording This creates trouble for a reader trying to locate a given song or larger ensemble or even to figure out if it has been omitted Quick summary: the recording largely presents the longer version which added the very effective prison scene at the beginning of Act 3 This all works just fine: even after repeated listenings I didn’t feel that the show had any glaring holes in it I was glad to go back to some older recordings to enjoy the music omitted here the translator should have allowed himself much more freedom clarifying literary allusions and expanding certain highly condensed phrases Does “Si le grain ne meurt”—a section heading in one of the essays—refer to the parable in John 12:24 (The section in question treats differences between the libretto and its main source: a comic play by Prosper Mérimée.) The English heading reads simply “If the Grain Doesn’t Die.” Literary French cannot be transported word-for-word into English Sometimes these essays simply cry out for an expanded wording in our language and maybe a chunk of imported Peruvian chocolate with red-pepper flakes and in the program books of major opera houses […] a new recording of La Périchole (in French not English) to review for the online magazine The Arts Fuse made during a run of performances in Bordeaux in 2018 The Lady’s Dressing Room (1732) BY JONATHAN SWIFT Five hours (and who can do it less in?) By haughty Celia… but this Littlefield review has convinced me to make the purchase your comments reek of what is wrong in today's society and also if entitlement About Us Advertising/Underwriting Syndication Media Resources Editors and Contributors © 2025 The Arts Fuse. All Rights Reserved. Site by AuthorBytes Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page For a guy associated with the levity and comedic flourish of 19th-century French operetta (think Moulin Rouge and the "can-can") Jacques Offenbach and his “militaire” cello concerto may come as a bit of a surprise to some classical listeners Before his rather clownish compositional flair for the stage was fully realized in the 1850s and '60s (he eventually composed 100 operettas) Offenbach was making his way in the world as a touring cellist and as a (slightly) more serious composer of songs and music for cello Among those earlier works is the Grand Cello Concerto in G Major (1847) This is a piece bookended by two highly athletic showpiece movements (complete with the sort of military fanfare its nickname suggests) Prepare to be dazzled and entertained – the most virtuosic of cellists can really shine in this repertoire In this week’s Classical Album of the Week Parisian cellist Edgar Moreau does not disappoint He rises to that technical challenge and also delivers a moving middle movement rich enough to bridge the power of the outer movements and yet tender enough to offer a perfect respite from those flashy bookends.  Sit back and treat yourself to Moreau and Les Forces Majeures The concerto is much more about fun than gravitas and the lack of the latter probably allowed the piece to fall away from the hearts and minds of players and audiences alike the piece resurfaced in an abridged form in the late 20th century Moreau’s album is an important addition to a too-small pool of recordings of this work You’d be hard-pressed to find another concerto with the combined personality and zealous energy of this.