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28.7.09

Rediscovering Offenbach's 'La Haine'

In 2006 musicologist Jean-Christophe Keck discovered the lost score of Offenbach's La Haine, incidental music written in 1874 to go with a performance of the massive play of that name by Victorien Sardou, on the subject of the divisions between Guelphs and Ghibellines in medieval Siena. The work finally saw the light of day last week, at the Festival de Radio France Montpellier, and Marie-Aude Roux was there to report on the performance ("La Haine" toujours vivace d'Offenbach, July 23) for Le Monde (my translation):

Rape, violence, love, insults, and hatred accompany the love story of the beautiful and unbending Ghibelline Cordelia Saraceni (Fanny Ardant) and the Guelph Orso Sovagnano (Gérard Depardieu, whose arrogance gives way and explodes. Lost behind the scrim that separated them from the actors, the Orchestre national de Montpellier and the excellent Choeur de la Radio lettone, supported by the conducting of the young Dutch conductor Enrico Delamboye, gave their best for the pleasure of a grateful and convinced audience.
Armelle Héliot was also there (Un Offenbach sombre pour Ardant et Depardieu, July 21), for Le Figaro. The reviewers so far were all really moved and impressed but have not really said why. Do we dare hope for a webcast? A few bits of the rehearsal and interviews with the big stars in the clip below.

UPDATE:
A commenter has noted that this concert will indeed be broadcast on France Musique, this Thursday (July 30) at 9 am (French time). One can listen to it streamed live on the Internet -- that would be at 3 am EDT for you American readers. Some of these programs are made available as webcasts, for a period of seven days, although I have yet to make their interface work properly. It worked just fine on the last attempt -- Offenbach's La Haine!--Ed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Being broadcast Thursday 3am EDT on France Musique.