OFFENBACH.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 224, 21 September 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

OFFENBACH.

king of light opera. VICTORIAN MEMORIES. (By EMILY GIBSON.) News comes -from London that Mr. A. P. Herbert, of "Punch," has rewritten the book of Offenbach's light opera, "La Vie Parisienne," and that the opera has been successfully produced by Mr. Nigel Play fair at the Lyric, Hammersmith. This brings those of us who are old enough, to remember back to the days when Offenbach was the rage in Europe,- and all our heads were set wagging and our feet keeping time to the gay, sparkling melodies that the composer turned out with such marvellous facility. "La Vie Parisienne" is not among his best works, at least, it did not create such a furore as for instance, "La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein," or "Genevieve de Brabant." Nevertheless, if the newspaper statement I have quoted be correct, and it proves a success at the Hammersmith Theatre, it means that other light operas by the same composer will follow in due course, and the present generation, which, to its misfortune, knows not Offenbach, will"learn the sort of music in which we revelled and to which we danced in what is quite incorrectly called the dull mid-Victorian period. There can be 110 comparison between the merry tuneful operas popular fifty years ago with the modern revue or comic opera, with its utter lack of original melody. The music was sung and played everywhere, it was on the barrel organs as well as on the programmes of all the crack military bands of Europe. It has not been altogether forgotten, either, although it must be over sixty years since London went Offenbach mad. Our own Mr. Christopher Smith is, one imagines, a lover of the Frenchman's sparkling music, for he very much includes reminiscences of Offenbach in his programme at the Town Hall concerts. Offenbach's Life. Jacques Offenbach was born at Cologne in 1819, and went to Paris, where ./he entered the Conservatoire at the age of 14 years. Ho studied the violin and the violoncello and became so skilled on the latter that he visited London in 1844 and played at some of the most notable concerts given at the time, including one before Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty presented him with a diamond ring. On a second visit to the English metropolis after he had become a successful composer, Colonel Mapleson, one of the leading impresarios of the day, wanted to produce one of his works at Her Majesty's Opera House. The. project fell through, as Offenbach, naturally enough, wished to conduct his own composition, while the manager insisted that the musical director, Sir Michael Costa, should conduct the orchestra.

In 1847 he was appointed musical director of the . Theatre Francais, in Paris, where many of his earlier works were produced, and in 1855 lie reached what was said to be the summit of liis ambition by being made director of the Bouffes Parisiens. Here Ins more popular operas first saw the liglit. We called them opera bouffes in those days as they were supposed to be burlesques of grand opera, though it is not easy to discern any difference between them and the orthodox comic opera. He hit the popular taste from the very beginning, but it was Viot until he composed "Orphee aux Enfers," in 1848, that all Europe went crazy over him. ' And no wonder. Although German by birth, he had captured, the very spirit of the boulevardes so that one always looks upon him as a Frenchman. The Most Popular Composer. Even at this distance of time one t'hrills at the recollection of one's first introduction . to the gay okl master's compositions. It was* "La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein," which, when originally produced in 1867, with Hortense Schneider in the title role, had drawn all Paris, including several Royal visitors to the Universal Exhibition of that year. Some years later in the English version charming Julia • Matthews created the. part in London. I wonder if any of our readers are old enough to remember Julia, who was an Australian girl, and besides having a very sweet voice, was a most fascinating actress, with a bewitching personality. After the "Duchess" came "La Belle Helene," the mu6ic of which had a seductive quality that at times resembles, that of "Faust." One is thankful to know that this opera has not been buried in oblivion, for quite recently it was revived in Germany with no less a person than Mile. Maria Jeritska in the title role. We were told that one of, the most famous of living composers (either Elgar or Richard Strauss) was so struck with the beauty of the theme and Jeritska's rendering of" the part that he then and there made up his mind to compose an opera on the same subject for her. Offenbach was the rage and easily the most popular composer in the world at the time. London was well ahead in the craze with Julia Matthews at one of the West End theatres, massive Emily Soldene as Drogan in "Genevieve 'de Brabant," at the Philharmonic, and jolly Nellie Farren and J. L. Toole in "The Princess of Trebizonde," at the Gaiety. "Tales of Hoffman." At the end of the 'seventies, "Madame Favart" was produced at the little old Strand with delightful Florence St. John as the heroine. It was during the run of this piece in 1880 that the composer died at the comparatively early age of 61. "The Tales of Hoffrtian," we are told, was his swan song. While there are lovers of melody in existence it will live, were it only for the sake of the entrancing Barcarolle; nevertheless, the lighter kind of opera was his forte, and in it he was head and- shoulders over all his competitors. For, of course, he had rivals. Herve and Lecocq came nearest, the former with "Chilperie," the latter nearer still with the popular "La Fille de Madame Angot." But neither of these composers were able to follow up their success, whereas Offenbach's genius was apparently inexhaustible. His works were not all equally good, but they were all catchy and melodious, even the little one-act operettas popular at the time, such as "The Rose of Auvergne," "Le Marriage ' aux LanteiTies," ami others. Consequently, We old people. who believe there was never anyone to compare with the gay old master in his own particular line, read of Mr. Nigel Playfair's revival with interest, for it gives the present generation a chance of seeing and hearing the sparkling operas we loved so much and which some of us think should be a real treat to the young folks, after the poor musical fare that has been put before them of late years.