August 12, 2019

  • A Bouquet of Rare Offenbach Overtures

     

    Offenbach: Overtures
    Brandenburg State Orchestra, Frankfurt/Howard Griffiths
    CPO 555 275
    Total Time:  57:54
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    The infectious music of Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) tends to keep a firm place in the orchestral concerto repertoire through the overtures that he wrote for his many theatrical works.  In this new release, Howard Griffiths takes us on a delightful discovery of twelve of these openers from opera bouffas and comic operas.  Admittedly, there are a number of these that tend to be a bit rarer which will be a delight for those who enjoy the composer’s music and have room for an album that does not survey the same familiar works.  The pieces here span across the most fruitful period of Offenbach’s work, 1855-1869.  Apart from some excerpts from Genevieve de Brabant (1859) whose “Galop” was often a pops favorite the only other music remotely familiar is the overture from L’Ille de Tulipatan (1868) which makes this a great opportunity to discover more Offenbach.

    Each of the pieces chosen illustrates the composer’s wit and drama.  Le Bavards (1863) has a lot of this sparkling writing with a touch of Spanish flair, including a bolero.  The thematic ideas are brilliantly tossed about in the orchestra with delightful results, including some wonderful flute writing.  Les Bergers (1865) was designed across three acts each that would be set in a different era and thus allowed for different musical styles to be explored.  The overture here, which opens the opera, is intended to set up the more ancient era and is thus a strikingly more serious dramatic piece with a sense of menace in its materials that provides a wonderful contrast to the other pieces here.  A pastorale oboe idea opens the piece which feels more aligned with early Romanticism.  The satirical opera Le Roi Carotte (1872) is represented by an equally dramatic overture to its final act and also features a beautiful lyric melody.  The rather unwieldly title, Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui… (1861) continues this vegetable theme with this Italian opera parody that features an engaging waltz.  The brief Les Brigands (1869) and Ba-Ta-Clan (1855) overtures quickly introduce some thematic ideas in works that play in around three minutes.  The music from Genevieve de Brabant (1859) connects the brief overture with some hunting music that opens the third act.  Among the few one acts Offenbach composed is Monsieur et Madame Denis (1862) is a longer affair with a relaxed march tune surrounding a flute idea.  It is another example of the composer’s love of exploring earlier musical forms and styles from the Rococo.  In this case, the central section is marked “Chaconne” to indicate this early musical root.  La Creole (1875) is a brief affair but introduces primary thematic ideas that will become important dramatically later in the story.  The piece, as one might anticipate, features a boisterous opening, a lyrical midsection, and then an exciting Allegro.  Coming later in the composer’s oeuvre, La Princesse de Trebizonde (1869) brings us a more substantial opening overture crafted along the lines of the composer’s more familiar overtures for other comic operas of the decade.  Madame Favert (1878) is another example of the composer’s admiration for the older opera comique styles which is reflected in the music which references the 18th Century.  And the album concludes with the delightful overture to L’Ile de Tulipitan (1868).

    Griffiths’ exploration of these different rarer pieces is filled with excellent shaping of the music and a sense for the humor that will follow, or the dramatic thrust of what may be satirical all the same.  The orchestra responds well with excellent shaping of the music and responding to the dynamic expressions.  The solo playing in the winds is rather exquisite throughout with the strings providing sharp articulations where needed and sumptuous playing along the way when called for as well.  Here is an album of often second tier Offenbach but still a worth addition to the catalog of his music for those looking for something a little off the over-trodden path.  The booklet notes also help provide some narrative context for each work while connecting the pieces historically within Offenbach’s music.