Robinson Crusoé

Offenbach had big dreams, and Robinson Crusoé, which was composed in the same year as La Grande duchesse de Gerolstein, was performed at the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra-Comique. Although the work was a respectable, if modest, success, it allowed the composer first and foremost to demonstrate the unprecedented splendour of his music, in which the sea plays a symphony while tropical birds sing to the strains of the piccolo. The press recognised its merits: “In the liveliness of this sharp yet subtle imagination, we can discern a new direction for opéra-comique which will modernize the genre”. Marc Minkowski and Laurent Pelly are the perfect pairing to conduct and direct this neglected score. They will be supported by a cast with all the experience required to deliver Offenbach and celebrate his joy, inspiration and poetry. Like a slightly distorting mirror reflecting a long gone era.

Nouvelle production Coproduction Théâtre des Champs-Élysées | Angers-Nantes Opéra | Opéra de Rennes, en collaboration avec le Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de musique romantique française
In partnership with france.tv and Le Figaro

Opera broadcast by France Musique on 10 January at 8 p.m. on the programme Samedi à l'opéra presented by Judith Chaine. Then available for streaming on the France Musique website and the Radio France app