These are 4-Star performances that come together into a 5-Star release. The playing is perky, colorful, and very much in synch with the fizzy qualities of the music. The orchestral cellist sounds lovely in his solos and, thank God, the violinist is in tune for his solo in "Orpheus in the Underworld". (There are other versions where the fiddler makes you cringe.) More illustrious orchestras have recorded this repertoire more colorfully, but the folks from Lille more than hold their own. What's more, the different elements come together more effectively than in those other versions. The Berlin Philharmonic played this stuff handsomely under Karajan's baton, but DG's wretched early-digital recording disqualifies the release. It's like the engineers asked themselves, "Just how gray and bloodless can we make this sound?", and twiddled the knobs accordingly. Bruno Weil and his Viennese band are okay, but noticeably short of Gallic charm. Fiedler and the Boston Pops had the music down pat stylistically, but the 70-year old sound is boxy and flat, though far more agreeable to the ear than that aforementioned mess from Deutsche Grammophon. Paray and the Detroit Symphony did some Offenbach very nicely on a French Marches and Overtures program on Mercury that still sounds good, but the solo violin in "Orpheus" is sour and out of tune. (And if you can't look forward to the famous Can-Can, why buy the bloody thing in the first place?) So while this Naxos release isn't the most virtuosic Offenbach program I could imagine, there's nothing seriously wrong with it and I'm glad to have it. And since it fills a notable void in the discography, let's affix that 5th star.
Der deutsch-französische Komponist Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880) war mit seinen komischen Opern bzw. spaßigen Operetten ein Schelm. Er versah diese mit schwungvoller Musik, verband sie mit zuweilen ironischer Handlung und mokierte sich so über die Sitten und das Leben seiner Epoche. Das bekommt man auf dieser CD mit den bemerkenswertesten Ouvertüren zu hören. Dass da bekanntere Ouvertürenwerke wie Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in der Unterwelt), La Vie parisienne (Pariser Leben) und La Belle Hélène (Die schöne Helena) nicht fehlen dürfen, logisch. Jedenfalls ist diese Auswahl seiner Ouvertüren ein musikalisch koketter Hörgenuss.
At last from Naxos a long-awaited collection of overtures by Offenbach. Darrell Ang has selected a delightful programme of lively and tuneful pieces which are expertly brought to us by the Orchestre National de Lille. The recording is outstanding with individual instruments beautifully caught by the microphones and the obvious enthusiasm the players have for this music is vividly on show. A real treat for the ears. Darrell Ang is one to watch!
Great CD of Offenbach Overtures some quite well known but a treasure trove of some never heard before tracks.The performance is spirited indeed needs to be ! Not subtle music but great fun indeed the orchestra is very obviously having field day exhibiting deftness with precision ! A foot tapper indeed-----have fun.