The dazzling cast of the Royal Opera House set out to make La Vie Parisienne a triumph once again (staged opera)! The gamble paid off, and La Vie Parisienne was a phenomenal success from the moment it premiered (323 performances until autumn 1869).
Unearthed thanks to the archives of the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, this version of La Vie parisienne is as it was originally conceived by Offenbach and his librettists, before the vocal limitations of the artists responsible for creating the work forced them to rework it. Acclaimed on stage for four years, this production, directed by Christian Lacroix, is coming to Versailles.
As Paris prepared to host its second Universal Exhibition (April-November 1867), Jacques Offenbach and his librettists put together a show for the Théâtre du Palais-Royal designed to captivate the audience expected for the industrial festivities. Breaking with the historical distance that had characterised his comic operas until then, Offenbach set to music the world that was his own contemporary. In order to hold up a slightly distorted mirror to the international audience that had come to France to enjoy its pleasures, he took advantage of the sharp and satirical gaze of Meilhac and Halévy, who made numerous direct references to technological advances (notably the arrival of the railway), Parisian entertainment venues and the types of people one might encounter there.
As Paris prepared to host its second Universal Exhibition (April-November 1867), Jacques Offenbach and his librettists put together a show for the Théâtre du Palais-Royal designed to captivate the audience expected for the industrial festivities. Breaking with the historical distance that had characterised his comic operas until then, Offenbach set to music the world that was his own contemporary. In order to hold up a slightly distorted mirror to the international audience that had come to France to enjoy its pleasures, he took advantage of the sharp and satirical gaze of Meilhac and Halévy, who made numerous direct references to technological advances (notably the arrival of the railway), Parisian entertainment venues and the types of people one might encounter there.
