La Belle Hélène

Jacques Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène has always been one of its composer’s most successful works. Its first performance in Paris was quickly followed by productions in Vienna, Berlin, London, Milan and New York. A satire of middle-class values, this opéra bouffe pillories narrow-mindedness in society. Adopting a pro-active stance, director Renaud Doucet and designer André Barbe treat the piece as a “great show” with numerous choreographic elements, relocating the action of Offenbach’s classical spoof and setting it on a cruise ship in the 1960s, when Flower Power, love and drugs were all the rage. “La Belle Hélène is a firework display for ears and eyes” (Hamburger Morgenpost), “opulent and amusing” (Bild), and in the title role Jennifer Larmore convinces with her “fantastic vocal performance” (Das Opernglas)

Die schöne Helena (La Belle Hélène)

Just as in “Orpheus in the Underworld”, this opera-travesty by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) also uses an ancient Greek subject as a means of caricaturing contemporary social and political issues. The main target of Offenbach’s barbs are the unscrupulousness and moral decline of France’s “Second Empire”. The action of the ancient saga of gods and heroes is stripped of its loftiness and parodistically reduced to an ironic display of very human motivations, weaknesses and excesses. “The ambivalence of Offenbach’s genius emerges here more clearly than in any other of his works – a genius that masters with the same skillfullness all the facets of musical expression: emotion and intellect, romance and parody.” (Bernard Grun, Cultural History of the Operetta)

“La Chasse – The Hunt” – Music from Paris and Vienna

The Bläserphilharmonie Mozarteum is one of the leading wind ensembles in the world. The musicians are members from the great symphony orchestras from all over the world. Once a year they come together for a special concert at the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg, which is always dedicated to a specific theme. “La chasse – The Hunt” builds a bridge from Vienna to Paris; hunting music of the 17th and 18th century from France and Austria is performed – on historical Parforce horns – as well as great entertaining music of the 19th and early 20th century, from Jaques Offenbach’s Cancan to Johann Strauss’s Radetzky March – original works as well as sensitively balanced stylistic arrangements for symphonic winds. It’s all about the hunt – in terms of content and music and with all its diversity and tradition. After all, people have always been hunting – deer, hares, but also happiness, success and love… . Also available is the documentary Huntsman’s Sound by Chris Kurt Weisz (A04550007 – 25′ min).

Salzburg Festival 2024: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Offenbach goes Hollywood: Mariame Clément’s production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann transforms ist titular character into a storyteller of a different kind. The different acts, which are based on short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, take the audience on a journey through the world of cinema, from a 70s sci-fi flick over a costume drama to a feverish experimental sequence. The three love interests Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta are portrayed by American soprano Kathryn Lewek, who “impresses with brilliantly assertive coloratura, melting cantilenas and pulsating drama” (Drehpunktkultur). At the centre of this tragic tale of unrequited love is Hoffmann himself, stepping into the role of a script writer and film director in this production. The incredibly charismatic Benjamin Bernheim “splendidly cele brates the invasive tragedy of his character. Sound, expression and

presence could not be better combined” (Der Standard). Kate Lindsey, who portrays the muse disguised as Hoffmann’s friend Niklausse is a joy to watch and listen to as she “absorbs Clément’s energy of ideas and gilds her vocal tour de force with scenic exuberance” (Der Standard). An opera evening that spans the emotional spectrum from hilarious comedy to deeply felt heartbreak.

Salzburg Festival 2019: Orphée aux enfers

Operetta enthusiast Barrie Kosky has landed a gigantic success with Offenbach’s subversive and hilarious reversion of the Orpheus myth at the Salzburg Festival. Kosky created a magically precise staging in a glittering opulent scenery and a literally devilish choreography. The dialogues are performed by the brilliant German actor Max Hopp as John Styx. Under Enrique Mazzola’s precise conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker provide “a sparkling orchestral sound” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung): “A frantic and fabulous show” (New York Times).

Bregenz Festival 2015: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

“The opera visit of the year – Bregenz is showing a Tales of Hoffmann that makes you forget everything you saw before.” (FAZ) Sparkling with creativity, Stefan Herheim’s new staging of Jacques Offenbach’s opera Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Bregenz Festival, starring Kerstin Avemo, Mandy Fredrich, Rachel Frenkel, Daniel Johansson and Michael Volle, was received by an enthusiastic audience with standing ovation and frenetic applause. The international press agreed wholeheartedly: The New York Times praised the “thoughtfulness and creativity” of the new production, devised by the director as a search for one’s own self in a sparkling drag show.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann

This production from the Chorégies d’Orange Festival, one of the festivals with the longest and richest traditions in France, is directed by the French conductor Michel Plasson, whose interpretation of the operatic works by Offenbach, Gounod and Massenet were considered to be the most excellent of our time. Performing is baritone José van Dam, one of today’s most famous and sought after interpreters of the bass-baritone repertoire.