From Opera Rara:
Sunday 4 October, 4pm, The Bridgewater Hall
aul Daniel, conductor | Chorus of English National Opera
On Sunday 4 October, Opera Rara launches its 56th season with the UK premiere of Offenbach’s Barkouf, a biting political satire in which a dog is appointed governor of “Lahore”, whose long-suffering citizens have reached breaking point after years of successive corrupt and incompetent leaders. Presented in musicologist Jean-Christophe Keck’s critical edition of the original 1860 opéra bouffe, Barkouf reunites Opera Rara with conductor Paul Daniel, following the charity’s acclaimed revival of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde (ORC63), named Best Opera Recording at both the 2024 OPER! and OPUS KLASSIK Awards. The concert performance will feature an English adaptation of Offenbach’s original dialogue by Jeremy Sams, narrated by Alistair McGowan.
For this revival in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Opera Rara also reunites with the Hallé Orchestra and the Royal Northern College of Music Opera Chorus, following their recent collaboration on the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra (ORC65). This performance – and the first-ever studio recording of Barkouf, to be made the preceding week – will also mark Opera Rara’s first collaboration with the Chorus of English National Opera. The cast includes Anne-Catherine Gillet and Katia Ledoux, both returning after La Princesse de Trébizonde, alongside Opera Rara newcomers Valerie Eickhoff, Mathias Vidal, François Piolino, Philippe Talbot and Thibault de Damas. Yann Beuron also returns to Opera Rara following his appearance in Weckerlin’s La Laitière de Trianon (ORR245).
Riding high from the success of Orphée aux enfers, Offenbach’s Barkouf was an attempt to establish himself at Paris’s prestigious Opéra-Comique. Although it overcame official censorship, the opera was met with fierce hostility from critics, including Hector Berlioz, after its premiere on 24 December 1860, and disappeared from the repertoire after just eight performances. More than 160 years later, Barkouf was rediscovered by Jean-Christophe Keck in the Offenbach family archive, with additional pages uncovered in a library in the United States.
While best known for its restoration and revival of bel canto operas, Opera Rara has championed Offenbach’s music since its founding in 1970. In 2023, the company brought the boxset Celebrating Offenbach (ORB3) featuring remastered studio recordings of Robinson Crusoe (ORC7) and Vert-Vert (ORC41), alongside Entre Nous (ORR243) and a selection of rare arias, duets and ensembles from more than twenty of the composer’s lesser-known works. Further Opera Rara recordings of Offenbach include Christopher Columbus (ORC2) and Fantasio (ORC51), the latter winning an International Opera Award in 2015.
Opera Rara’s celebration of Offenbach continues throughout its 56th season. The third series of its podcast, Lives in Song, will be devoted to the composer, with host Flora Willson joined across six episodes by leading scholars and artists specialising in his music. Two days after the UK premiere of Barkouf, on Tuesday 6 October, Opera Rara will also partner the National Opera Studio for the first time in a day of events celebrating Offenbach. The programme features a masterclass with Paul Daniel, a live recording of Lives in Song hosted by Flora Willson, and a Salon Series concert with Barkouf cast members François Piolino and Philippe Talbot alongside National Opera Studio singers.
