The operatic works of Jacques Offenbach are generally referred to as operettas, but the composer himself more often than not used its French equivalent, opérette . Instead, his works were called opéra comique , opéra bouffe , or any one of a dozen other genre names, including chinoiserie musicale , conversation alsacienne , saynète , and even anthropophagie musicale . Few fit the conventional notion of an operetta, with a pleasing but slightly satirical romantic plot, and musically they are all over the map, with ...
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The operatic works of Jacques Offenbach are generally referred to as operettas, but the composer himself more often than not used its French equivalent, opérette . Instead, his works were called opéra comique , opéra bouffe , or any one of a dozen other genre names, including chinoiserie musicale , conversation alsacienne , saynète , and even anthropophagie musicale . Few fit the conventional notion of an operetta, with a pleasing but slightly satirical romantic plot, and musically they are all over the map, with fantastical elements, Italian-style coloratura arias (which are not necessarily denoted by the "colorature" of the album title), and more in addition to romantic songs. The voice style, too, had various names: chanteuse légère and several others in addition to coloratura. The overall result of this variety is that a recital of Offenbach's music needs a versatile singer who can respond to a text and put it across attractively. It gets both in...
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