Opéra Comique Collection - Hahn: Ciboulette / Adam: Le Postillon de Lonjumeau / Offenbach: La Pericole (complete operettas) BLU-RAY

The three opéras-comiques in this set epitomise the glamour, vivacity and zest of the quintessentially French genre and are among their composers' most admired works. Adolphe Adam's Le Postillon de Lonjumeau exudes rococo Parisian charm, Reynaldo Hahn's elegant and refined Ciboulette is one of the last masterpieces of French operetta, and Jacques Offenbach's La Périchole is an opéra-bouffe of scintillating colour and vivacious dances. These acclaimed productions from the famous stage of the Opéra Comique in Paris feature world-class performers, superb directors, and, in the Adam, costumes by the iconic French fashion designer, Christian Lacroix.

This is a collection of three previous Naxos audiovisual releases, now presented as a 3-disc box set.

Le Postillon de Lonjumeau is headlined by Michael Spyres, world famous for his 'baritenor' voice. 'There were audible gasps from the audience several times during the evening, whether at Spyres' amiable pyrotechnics or at one dazzling set or curtain after another' wrote NPW-Paris.

Of Ciboulette, BBC Music Magazine wrote: 'The music... is almost always charming and regularly inventive, and here in the careful hands of Laurence Equilbey… The cast is nigh-on impeccable, with tenor Julien Behr offering plenty of juvenile lead panache as Antonin, and soprano Eva Ganizate a spitfire of a Zénobie.'

Opera wrote: 'La Périchole is perhaps Offenbach's most delectable operetta, outstanding for charm, wit and warmth… And Naxos's Blu-ray, expertly showcasing the new Opéra Comique production… boasts a cast, conductor, chorus and orchestra well capable of doing justice to its special qualities.' 'Stéphanie d'Oustrac and Philippe Talbot are stellar as the songful yet destitute lovebirds at the centre of the plot. And, with its comic slant on the injustice of imprisonment, La Périchole makes for a refreshing tonic', wrote The New York Times.

Adolphe Adam
LE POSTILLON DE LONJUMEAU

Chapelou / Saint-Phar - Michael Spyres
Madeleine / Madame de Latour - Florie Valiquette
Le Marquis de Corcy - Franck Leguérinel
Biju / Alcindor - Laurent Kubla
Rose - Michel Fau
Louis XV - Yannis Ezziadi
Bourdon - Julien Clément

Accentus Chamber Choir
Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie
Sébastien Rouland, conductor

Michel Fau, stage director
Emmanuel Charles, set designer
Christian Lacroix, costume designer
Joël Fabing, lighting designer

Recorded at the Opéra Comique, Paris, 5 and 7 April 2019

Reynaldo Hahn
CIBOULETTE

Ciboulette - Julie Fuchs
Duparquet - Jean-François Lapointe
Antonin - Julien Behr
Zénobie - Eva Ganizate
Roger - Ronan Debois
Françoise - Cécile Achille
Monsieur Grenu - Jean-Claude Sarragosse
Madame Grenu - Guillemette Laurens
Auguste / Victor - Patrick Kabongo Mubenga
Le Patron / Le Maire - François Rougier
Grisard - Safir Behloul
Madame Pingret - Bernadette Lafont
La Comtesse de Castiglione - Michel Fau
Le Directeur de l'Opéra - Jérôme Deschamps

Accentus Chamber Choir
(chorus master: Christophe Grapperon)
Toulon Opera Symphony Orchestra
Laurence Equilbey, conductor

Michel Fau, stage director
Bernard Fau and Citronelle Dufay, set designers
David Belugou, costume designer
Joël Fabing, lighting designer

Recorded at the Opéra Comique, Paris, 20 and 22 February 2013

Jacques Offenbach
LA PÉRICHOLE (1874 version)

La Périchole - Stéphanie d'Oustrac
Piquillo - Philippe Talbot
Don Andrès de Ribeira - Tassis Christoyannis
Don Miguel de Panatellas - Éric Huchet
Don Pedro de Hinoyosa - Lionel Peintre

Les Éléments
Orchestre de Chambre de Paris
Julien Leroy, conductor

Valérie Lesort, stage director
Audrey Vuong, set designer
Vanessa Sannino, costume designer
Christian Pinaud, lighting designer
Yohann Têté, choreographer

Recorded at the Opéra Comique, Paris, 17 and 19 May 2022

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Audio language: French
Subtitles: French, English, German, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 7 hrs 1 min
No. of Discs: 3 (BD 50)