BELLE LURETTE (a complete opera sung in German) is Jacques Offenbach's last work. He did not get to see or hear the world premiere or that of his fantastic opera "Hoffmanns Erzählungen", which he worked on at the same time. This publication (License rbb Medien / DRA) is a recording by Radio Leipzig from 1958. The tapes were only rediscovered in the archive in the summer of 2019 and are thus offered for the very first time on CD. The performance features top GDR radio stars, the Grosses Rundfunk-Orchester and the Rundfunk-Chor Leipzig under the musical direction of Vienna conductor Gottfried Kassowitz, who makes the score sparkle with precision and transparency, yet with great temperament. The arrangement by Walter Zimmer is characterised by subtle interventions and allows all music numbers to be played, with three exceptions. The encore section has been extended to include 10 music numbers from the French O.R.T.F. production of 1965, making it possible to make meaningful comparisons between the original version and the German version. The accompanying text is by Matthias Käther, well-known and popular, among other things, for his music broadcasts on Radio rbb Kultur ("Opernführer" and others).
