The sheer scope of Jacques Offenbach's output is striking, encompassing about 100 operettas and comic operas, as well as various other works. Maître Péronilla was composed in 1878, just three years before Offenbach's death, and with new trends of comic opera in the air. Yet he finished five more before the end, and there is absolutely no flagging of inspiration evident; the opera is full of tunes that will leave the listener humming. Maître Péronilla, which apparently receives its world recorded premiere here, was termed an ...
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The sheer scope of Jacques Offenbach's output is striking, encompassing about 100 operettas and comic operas, as well as various other works. Maître Péronilla was composed in 1878, just three years before Offenbach's death, and with new trends of comic opera in the air. Yet he finished five more before the end, and there is absolutely no flagging of inspiration evident; the opera is full of tunes that will leave the listener humming. Maître Péronilla, which apparently receives its world recorded premiere here, was termed an opera bouffe ; the generic designations for Offenbach's works had fuzzy boundaries, but this is a bit more expansive than many of the works called operettas, with three acts, plenty of irresistible choruses, and a large cast conveying a variety of musical styles. The Spanish-flavored, unwanted-marriage-based plot serves as a vehicle for this parade of styles, and the action is expertly handled, propelling the action forward even as the performers here take all the dialogue...
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