Search - Jacques Offenbach, David Parry, London Philharmonic Orchestra :: Entre Nous (Celebrating Offenbach)

The best collection of forgotten Offenbach gems!

Brett Farrell | Cape May, NJ USA | 11/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a wonderful collection! When I first saw that this was going to be released I had to preorder it and get next day shipping and I have not been disapointed. There are other collections of the works of Offenbach out there but they mostly consist of highlights from the operas that we already own in complete form. They may come with a smattering of unheard pieces but generally you'll just get clips of La Vie..., Orphee...., La Belle...and such. This however is nothing but raraties. There are few pieces that come from operas you can get in complete form (after much searching) such as Genevieve de Brabant, Le Pont des soupirs, la Creole, L'Ile de Tulipatan, La Chateau a Toto, and possibly more (though I have yet to find them) but as I said all the complete recordings of these operas are hard to find and out of print.

But even if you own all these there are so many other pieces you can find no where else. They are preformed brilliantly, recently, and with complete orchestrations. But what else could you expect from Opera-Rara?

Another wonderful bit to this album is the included book. The libertti to each is included in french and english. And then the real treat. Each opera highlighted here has a brief history included. I own many books about Jaques Offenbach but the little histories about these forgotten treasures is in none of them. The thick booklet included makes this even more of a must have for any Offenbach fan."

Wonderful!

David Chandler | 06/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For anyone who already loves Offenbach, or for anyone interested in the development of modern, popular musical theatre, or for anyone who just loves good tunes that you can hum all day, this is essential listening. The music and the performances are absolutely glorious, and the accompanying documentation, as always with Opera Rara, is first class and a model of its kind.



My only slight disappointment--and I emphasise "slight"--was that the selections seemed to favour the later Offenbach. There are only three pieces from the 1850s, when Offenbach exploded onto the French musical scene, and developed his inimitable style. But perhaps Opera Rara can be persuaded to put together another collection of "Early Offenbach"?"