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Composer: Offenbach, Jacques

Ouverture a grand orchestre

Lille National Orchestra

Conductor: Ang, Darrell

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Year of Production: 2016

Playing Time: 00:08:15

Catalogue Number: NVF0144

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Jacques Offenbach is best remembered for his operettas, but the dramatic Ouverture a grand orchestre is a rarely heard early piece that presages his future in musical theatre.

By far the most substantial in terms of duration, Offenbach's Ouverture a grand orchestre is the earliest music to feature here, composed in 1843 when he was just 24 years old. At this time he was playing the cello in fashionable salons and shared a platform with Liszt in Paris, as well as being summoned to perform for royalty all over Europe. His compositions from this period include numerous fantasies on popular operas and also the Ouverture a grand orchestre. With its skilful writing and light touch, this dramatic work presages the composer's theatrical future, revealing as it does the influence of such models as Spohr, Herold and Weber.