La Vie parisienne

"The rehearsals for La Vie parisienne are driving me almost mad," wrote librettist Ludovic Halévy a few days before the premiere of the work. The artists of the Compagnie du Palais-Royal had difficulty with some musical numbers that Offenbach had written for them. Under pressure, the composer and librettists had to simplify, shorten, rewrite, and sometimes even abandon some of their most successful inspirations. The international success of the resulting score soon ensured that the hundreds of pages that Offenbach had reluctantly cut were forgotten. Now research by the Palazzetto Bru Zane team has brought all this musical material to light and made it possible to present the world premiere recording. Listeners can now enjoy a delightful diplomatic trio, a seduction quintet, a street sweeper's song, a song for Urbain, the fabliau of the baroness and much more. The fourteen-member soloist team led by Romain Dumas benefits from the brilliant sounds of the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, which previously recorded Offenbach's "other" Vie parisienne, namely ... 1976.