Offenbach La Vie parisienne

Product Description After the smash hit of La Fille du Régiment with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flóres, Virgin Classics continues to develop its DVD catalog with a new stage production by renowned director Laurent Pelly (who also produced La Fille) accompanied by his assistant Agathe Mélinand, who adapted the dialogues as in the other productions. Filmed in Lyons during the hit performances of late-2007/2008, the production has recast for our modern times the satirical portrayal of Parisian life in the Second Empire. Pelly's wild and frenzied staging brings out the humor and gusto of Offenbach's operetta, and the rich cast of singers including Laurent Naouri, Natalie Dessay's husband sparkle under the lively baton of Sébastien Rouland. Amazon.com Jacques Offenbach?s La vie parisienne, is one of his most enjoyable works, especially in this Lyon Opera production. A satirical romp poking barbs into the thick skin of Second Empire Paris, it?s updated to a farcical sendup of a contemporary Paris populated by thrill-hungry tourists and euro-seeking natives, both groups with sex on their minds. Producer Laurent Pelly?s imaginative production makes the tangled plot, with its characters assuming false identities and roles to bilk a not-so-innocent pair of Swedish tourists, perfectly clear. And he fills the stage with endless comic bits and clever routines that keep you laughing throughout. So to depict the Swedish baron?s drunken state in Act Three, the banquet table itself rocks like a see-saw and spins like a top. Chantal Thomas? sets make it clear that Paris itself is the subject of this madcap Opera-bouffe, with semi-abstract views of the city and a map as backdrops to the action. And further delights are provided by Laura Scozzi?s choreography, turning orchestral introductions like that for Act Four, with its dawn street-sweepers and tipsy part-goers, into a laugh-out-loud ballet. The production also features a well-matched cast of singing actors who throw themselves into the spirit of the work with gusto. As the two young lovers of the flighty Métella, Jean-Sebastien Bou and Marc Callahan look, act and sing their roles with just the right serio-comic flair, while veteran baritone Laurent Naouri as the Swede displays a gift for farce unsuspected in his Baroque opera successes. Tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt stands out with his hilarious turn as the horny boot maker and faux admiral, and his Act One duet with Marie Devellereau as the pretty glove-maker G