Customer Reviews

Offenbach - Orphée aux Enfers / Dessay, Naouri, Fouchécourt, Beuron, Podles, Petibon, Smith, Gens, Cole, Minkowski

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD should be illegal - everyone from the singers to the musicians obviously had way too much fun - and so will you! Natalie Dessay shines as Eurydice and Laurent Naouri is a delightful (if rather roving) Jupiter, while Yann Beuron makes Orphee come alive. Ewa Podles gives Public Opinion exactly the right amount of santimonious self-rightousness.

A truly delightful recording - even if you aren't an opera lover, you owe it to yourself to listen to this wonderful romp to Mount Olympus and the Underworld...a case of Heaven in Hell!

Great performances all around, great sound...doesn't get any better (or more fun) than this.

Some time ago, EMI issued a 3-CD set of the revised four act version of Offenbach's "Orphée aux Enfers" ("Orpheus in the Underworld") that is now available only in Europe or by special order. Dotted as it was with terrific tunes and very witty dialogue, the production as a whole dragged a bit, especially during the long ballet sequences. But now the same label has come out with a brand new recording (CDCB 56725 2) on two CDs of the original two act version with some additions from the longer one. And as Jackie Gleason used to say, it is a regular riot. With Natalie Dessay as a screaming Eurydice (the name means "wide justice" according to Robert Graves) who can make herself quite at home Down There and Yan Beuran as her cello-playing spouse who has to be forced by Public Opinion (Ewa Podles, in a bit of classy casting) to try to bring back his wife, this version simply hurtles headlong under the direction of Marc Minkowski from one great spoof of the venerable legend (the Olympians in revolt against too much ambrosia as the orchestra plays the Marseillaise) to another (some gods dancing a minuet while the rest indulge in a "galop infernal"-which the cuties at the Moulin Rouge took as their own and called it the Can-can!) So brush up on your French as you follow the text (and you should for this one, you know) and really have a good time on earth, on Olympus, and "aux enfers."

Minkowski and his troupe of players provide an exciting and characterful rendition of Offenbach's send-up of classical opera themes-- oh that the great "reformer" Gluck had had anything like Offenbach's imagination and humour. The small, music-hall size orchestra and the lively, burlesque comedy carries the whole thing through without its dragging. There are innumerable memorable musical moments, so that repeated listening is rewarding, even though French spoken gags get a bit tedioius on too many repetitions. Natalie Dessay very much comes into her own -- a great singer who is also a great comedienne. But Ewa Podles' over-the-top performance, despite some vagaries in the French pronunciation, threatens to steal the show, much as Dessay threatens to steal the show from bigger-name sopranos in recordings of other operas. Oh that Minkowski had toured more widely with this production -- it must have been a marvelous evening of theatre as well as of music!

I must agree with everyone before me who gave this album 5 stars. It has become one of my favorite recordings, and I'm not particularly a huge fan of Offenbach or even light opera/operetta in general. The conducting is superb and the performers are excellent: standouts are Natalie Dessay as Eurydice and Laurent Naori as Jupiter. I disagree with the reviewer who says that Ewa Podles took herself much too seriously: she's Public Opinion, she's SUPPOSED to take herself seriously! I thought she was fantastic, and very funny in her own way.

This recording is based on performances in the opera house and is therefore highly theatrical and with a point of view that frequently emphasizes dramatic gesture over musical purity. You can hear the raised eye-brows and knowing glances as Marc Minkowski sets fast pace to this satirical re-telling of the Orpheus myth. Sometimes the tempos seem too fast, and the text gets lost. But the energy of the show is evident and is very engaging.

This recording has a cast that is adept with the dialogue and sings with dramatic involvement. Natalie Dessay sings Euydice with much more virtuosity than one normally hears in this work. Ewa Podles is deliciously hooty, haughty, and always indignant as Public Opinion. Laurent Naouri portrays the head god Jupiter with glibness and sonorous tonal authority. Stephen Cole's John Styx is both terrifying and hysterically funny as he swings unpredictably between leering and longing.

The booklet accompanying the CD is in French, English and German. The essay provides an interesting historical context for the operetta. The booklet also explains how the performing edition of the operetta was sliced together from the original 2-act version and a later 4-act version. (The French EMI CD that was recorded in the late 1970's is of the 4-act version.) This version is more taut in terms of dramatic tension and tempo. It is more wickedly funny as a result.

The last version of Orpheus in the Underworld that I owned was a 2 record set from Everest conducted by Rene Leibowitz, and I remembered it fondly, which helped my decision to buy this new version. It's delightful fun, mostly because the cast seems to be having so much fun. It's always a hoot when opera singers unbend, and all the snarling, sneering, and other hijinks in this version make me smile--as does the actual singing, which is fine. The dialogue is delivered with such verve that even if you don't know French (but know the story line), you'll laugh at the lines. This is a big improvement over most singspiel recordings (such as Mozart's Seraglio) where the German dialogue puts me to sleep between musical numbers. If there was any chance that today's Broadway audience would know anything about mythology, this version of the operetta would make a terrific show. The only thing I miss is the full overture, even though it's spurious.

I do not believe there are any cd's in my entire collection that I have listened to as many times as I have listened to this one! Tableaux Troix is nearly worn out! Thanks to a slight taste of the english lyrical versions of Offenbach on Lesley Garrett's 'Soprano in Red' album, I new I had to have more, and if Garrett was a taste then Desay is truly the meal! Everything about this album was great. The preformance of all the cast to the sound quality (which seems always to be of a high caliber with EMI) go beyond excellence! I can not recommend this cd but demand that you hear it and you will know what I am talking about!

A quick look at the star ratings down the page shows clearly that people agree Minkowski did a great job with this Orphee. He's now done it again with La Belle Helene, starring Felicity Lott and Michel Senechal, just released (Sept 2001) in France. Five more stars. So keep your eyes (and ears) peeled, it should be out soon!

The last version of Orpheus in the Underworld that I owned was a 2 record set from Everest conducted by Rene Leibowitz, and I remembered it fondly, which helped my decision to buy this new version. It's delightful fun, mostly because the cast seems to be having so much fun. It's always a hoot when opera singers unbend, and all the snarling, sneering, and other hijinks in this version make me smile--as does the actual singing, which is fine. The dialogue is delivered with such verve that even if you don't know French (but know the story line), you'll laugh at the lines. This is a big improvement over most singspiel recordings (such as Mozart's Seraglio) where the German dialogue puts me to sleep between musical numbers. If there was any chance that today's Broadway audience would know anything about mythology, this version of the operetta would make a terrific show. The only thing I miss is the full overture, even though it's spurious.

The overall quality of this disc is impressive. Natalie Dessay is, as usual, more than excellent, and the role of Eurydice suites her perfectly. A must-have, and, for those unfamiliar, an excellent opportunity to discover Offenbach.