This page lists all recordings of La Belle Helene Overture, by Jacques Offenbach (1819-80) on CD & download (MP3 & FLAC). Generally, more recent releases are listed first, but with priority given to those that are in stock. |
All recordingsPrices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | The World of Offenbach
In October 1880, at the age of sixty-one, having poured out his high-spirited talent into over a hundred works for the stage, Offenbach lay exhausted on his deathbed. A strange figure wearing dark glasses and a floppy white cravat knocked at the door. It was Léonce, the comedian who had made such a big hit in Orphée aux enfers. The concierge told him: ‘Monsieur Offenbach is dead. He died very gently, without realising it’. ‘Well, well’, replied Léonce. ‘How annoyed he’ll be when he finds out.’ And that curious little anecdote, told by James Harding in his excellent liner notes, tells something of the wit and sparkling humour of these performances. Traversing a wide span of recordings – from Ernest Ansermet cheeky in the brilliantly-recorded overtures, to Sutherland and Crespin in voices thrilling and beguiling for the arias, this compendium offers not only the Offenbach ‘hits’ (including the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffman, both as an orchestral interlude as well as a duet), but several delightful rarities, performed by top-shelf Decca artists. Long out of print, the CD is now restored to circulation. “[the voice] sparkles all through. Crespin … sounds far more at home twinkling in operetta than ever the majority of her admirers would have suspected. […] She has been splendidly served by her accompanists, not to mention the recording engineers who, while conveying the individual timbre of the voice very faithfully, have not allowed it to “glare”; as it sometimes has done on record.” Gramophone Magazine “Joan Sutherland gives a virtuoso performance … Bonynge’s direction is unfailingly sympathetic … Domingo gives one of his finest performances on record … Superb atmospheric recording quality” Penguin Guide | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Offenbach Favourites
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | French Opera Overtures
“While no-one has captured the Offenbach spirit as Martinoin does, it is for the elegance that one especially relishes this collection” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Champagne! (Operetta Arias)Felicity Lott performs great operetta arias by Strauss, Lehár, Messager and Offenbach
Heuberger: | Gehen wir ins Chambre séparée) from The Opera Ball | Lehár: | Gold und Silber Walzer, Op. 79 Meine Lippen sie Kussen so heiss (from Giuditta) Liebe du Himmel auf Erden (from Paganini) | Messager: | L'Amour masque: 'J'ai deux amants' | Offenbach: | La Belle Helene Overture Dites-lui qu’on l’a remarqué (from La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein) Ah! que j'aime les militaires (from La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein) Tu n'es pas beau, tu n'es pas riche (from La Périchole) | Straus, O: | Leise, ganz leise klingt's durch den Raum (from Ein Walzertraum) Je t’aime | Strauss, E: | Bahn frei! Schnell-Polka, Op. 45 | Strauss, J, II: | Die Fledermaus Overture | Strauss, Josef: | Feuerfest (Fireproof), Op. 269 Auf Ferienreisen - Polka schnell, Op. 133 | Waldteufel: | Amour et printemps |
This album is a reissue of a recital originally released on the French label Aria Music. “Lott had yet to sing Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse on stage but she makes an haute-cuisine course of the 'Air de la déclaration', as well as the man-eating nonsense of 'Ah! Que j'aime les militaires'. …a light-hearted disc, something to create a mood of fun on a dull day.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2006 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Ouvertures FrançaisesFamous French Overtures
Sparkling accounts of famous French overtures, rare and familiar, all recorded in 1960, and part of Eloquence's magnum opus, the Decca Ansermet Legacy. “This recording of once-popular French overtures was always one of Ansermet's most successful records. Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys is full of melodrama and builds up to a particularly exciting finale, while La Dame Blanche receives a suitably more reserved, though delicately stylish, reading...this makes a most welcome reissue, with any slight imperfections of ensemble easily forgiveable in the fresh, lively music-making.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Offenbach: Gaîté Parisienne & Overtures
| 
| | | (Sorry, download not available in your country) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Famous Operetta Overtures
| | | (also available to download from $6.00) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
|
|
| |  | Tortelier's French Bonbons
| | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
|
|
| | | |  | Offenbach Overtures
| | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
|
|
| |
|
Penguin Guide
