JACQUES OFFENBACH Vinyl & CDs

Review: In late 19th to early 20th Century Paris, operettas were the order of the day. Cologne-born composer-cellist Jacques Offenbach and Boston conductor Arthur Fielder were chief conceivers of this terse micro-musical form, defined in the loosest sense as a "light opera". Like novellas, operettas are shorter, lighter-hearted commedia, featuring the occasional satirical jibe. Offenbach came first; he and Fielder began their diachronic dialogue in earnest in 1954, when the latter's 1954 rendition of Gaîte Parisienne - a 1938 ballet featuring many an Offenbach operetta - became a beloved reinterpretation. This loyal commemoration by the Boston Pops Orchestra at the Boston Symphony Hall eulogises Offenbach's superb orchestrations once more, in what has been described as one of the best RCA recordings of all time.