Offenbach: Overtures

The overtures to Offenbach's operettas are peculiar creations, for they were seldom written by the composer and in most cases were never intended for his theatrical productions. Offenbach found them tedious and superfluous, preferring instead to present his works without any introductory music beyond a few measures. Only two of the overtures in this collection were actually composed by Offenbach, those for La fille du tambour-major and Monsieur et Madame Denis. .

As Adolf Tegtmeier, the alter ego of Jürgen von Manger, knew quite well, overtures exercise an important function in the opera: ‘They begin, you see, right off with the curtain and start by playing all the melodies in a row, everything that happens to come up later. But this is just to give you the chance to familiarize yourself with the music. And of course it’s important … so that later on you don’t get such a big shock’. The orchestral overtures brought together on the present recording make the listener eager to hear each of the particular works following them.

E.T.A. Hoffmann is better known for his literary works, mainly of Gothic stories, early horror fiction, and fairy tales. Some of his his works were used by Offenbach in the composition of his last opera, "The Tales of Hoffmann".

THE ANALOGUE YEARS presents a 50-Album overview across 54 CDs, in original jackets, of the celebrated international recordings that emerged from the London-based record label in that pre-digital era.