Barkouf (OEK critical edition)

Libretto by Eugène Scribe and Henry Boisseaux (F)

“True art is always ahead of its time, sometimes almost 160 years… Offenbach’s music is a discovery in itself… piquant rhythms everywhere, harmonic-melodic surprises, loving or ironic instrumental solos from cello and woodwind and a skilful orchestral intensification which puts the listener in ever greater expectation and tension…”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“Liberty, equality, dog biscuits…Teeth bared against the mighty… a series of comic numbers that are irresistible.”
Diapason

“A masterwork!... Barkouf, the sharpest musical political satire of the 19th century, landed again in a rather tense time, 158 years after its premiere… The 41-year-old Offenbach had buried his dog so well after his defeat that only a detective like Jean-Christophe Keck was able to track down the scores. Offenbachers from far and wide made the pilgrimage to discover an unknown masterpiece.”
Die Zeit