14:00 SPANISH CHAMBER
Prepared by Paul Cooke
With Ian MacDonald

Iturralde, P. Memorias.    Juan M. Jiménez, soprano sax; Esteban Ocaña, pf.
Naxos 8.573429 [10:05]

Zimbalist, E. Sarasateana (arr. 1947).    Roberto Diaz, va; Robert Koenig, pf.
Naxos 8.557391 [15:56]

14:30 SATURDAY MATINÉE
Operetta in the afternoon
Prepared and presented by Ian MacDonald

Offenbach, J. La vie parisienne. Operetta in four acts. Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. This version first performed Paris, 1873.   

Offenbach, J. La vie parisienne, Act I   
[21:45]

Offenbach, J. La vie parisienne, Act II   
[20:05]

Offenbach, J. La vie parisienne, Act III   
[18:39]

Offenbach, J. La vie parisienne, Act IV   
[14:58]

   GARDEFEU: Andreas Schindler, ten
BOBINET: Klaus Hammes Brock, ten
MÉTELLA: Martina Serafin, mezz
LADY MacDONALD: Ingrid Kaiserfeld, sop
LORD MacDONALD: Michael Glücksmann, bar
Mörbisch Festival Ch & O/Rudolph Bibl.
OEHMS classics OC 252 [01:15:27]

   At the bustling Saint-Lazare station, in 1860, constantly arriving trains are filled with wealthy foreigners eager to experience the fabled gaiety of Parisian life. Gardefeu and Bobinet, rivals for the favours of the lovely Métella, studiously ignore each other but, when she arrives on the arm of another, they resolve to find a better class of mistress. Gardefeu’s former servant, Joseph, now working for the Grand Hotel, arrives to fetch an English lord and his wife. Gardefeu takes one look at the delectable Lady MacDonald and bribes Joseph to change places. He escorts the couple to his own townhouse, telling them it’s an annexe of the Grand Hotel, and lodges them in well-separated bedrooms. This suits his lordship, as his idea of a good time in Paris involves becoming acquainted with Métella, whose reputation has crossed the Channel. Gardefeu plans to beguile Lord Macdonald with an elaborate dinner and then somehow get him out of the way, leaving himself a clear field with her ladyship. A hapless bootmaker and glover, arriving to deliver their goods, find themselves posing as a major and a colonel’s widow, with a tableful of hurriedly assembled 'friends’. A remarkably good time is had by all, and, after this, Bobinet hosts an intimate gathering at his absent aunt’s townhouse. Servants turn into fashionable guests, Bobinet becomes an admiral, with the chambermaid as his wife, her task being to seduce Lord MacDonald. However, Métella, anxious to win back Gardefeu, joins forces with her ladyship, who wants to extricate her husband from the perils of Parisian life. All’s well that ends well; c'est la vie parisienne!


Offenbach, J. La belle Hélène. Operetta in three acts. Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. First performed Paris, 1864.   

Offenbach, J. La belle Hélène, Acts I & II   
[26:43]

Offenbach, J. La belle Hélène, Act III   
[24:28]

   PARIS: René Kollo, ten
HELEN: Anna Moffo, sop
MENELAUS: Josef Meinrad, ten
KALCHAS: Ivan Rebroff, bass
Stuttgart Radio Choir & O/Franz Allers.
Philips 420 662-2 [51:11]

   Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, has been given the enjoyable task of judging a beauty contest between three goddesses on Mount Ida, the realm of the gods. Having made the right choice, he is promised, as reward, the favours of Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. With the help of Kalchas, Jupiter’s favoured fortune-teller, Paris hides in her bedroom and, when she wakes, she is far from disgruntled at the appearance of the handsome young prince. Just as she invites him into her bed, they are disturbed by Helen’s husband, returned from battle who, with his fellow kings, denounces the seducer. The entire company decides to go on holiday to the seaside with Helen still protesting her innocence. There, a priest of Venus takes her away to make sacrifice to the goddess. He turns out to be Paris in disguise. He sails off to Troy with his prize.

Offenbach, J. Fly duet, from Orpheus in the Underworld (1858).    Natalie Dessay, sop; Laurent Naouri, bar; Lyon Opera O/Marc Minkowski.
Virgin 363332 2 9 [05:03]

Offenbach, J. Invocation to death, from Orpheus in the Underworld (1858).    June Bronhill, sop.,Sadler's Wells Opera O; Alexander Faris, cond.
EMI 3891632 [02:30]