Gramophone Magazine
November 2023
Recording of the Month

Anne-Catherine Gillet (Zanetta), Virginie Verrez (Le Prince Raphael), Antoinette Dennefeld (Régina), Josh Lovell (Le Prince Casimir), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Rara Chorus, Paul Daniel

A travelling circus, an innocent prince in love with a waxwork and a lottery ticket to win a magnificent castle… What can possibly go wrong? The delightful opera La Princesse de Trébizonde is packed with earworm melodies and irresistible joie-de-vivre characteristic of Offenbach’s musical style.

Following the award-winning releases of Fantasio (2015) and Vert-Vert (2009), Opera Rara presents its 4th complete opera recording by Jacques Offenbach, a composer considered the father of the operetta and whose pioneering work influenced greatly many composers in the 20th century.

Conductor Paul Daniel leads an all-star cast including Virginie Verrez and Anne-Catherine Gillet in this premiere recording of Jean-Christophe Keck’s critical edition.

"The orchestra slips easily between pastel delicacy and breezy panache, the chorus is up-front, crisp and bright and the whole thing has an immediacy that Daniel suggests is an attempt to recreate the acoustic of the Bouffes-Parisiens." - Gramophone Magazine, November 2023.