lene[/i] and La Vie Parisienne. La Belle Helene, like Orpheus in the Underworld, was written for Offenbach's own theatrical troupe, The Théâtre des Variétés, eut La Vie Parisienne was written for a Parisian theatre company, Théâtre du Palais-Royal, with Offenbach's stipulation that they use coloratura soprano, Zulma Bouffar, in the leading role of the glove maker, Gabrielle.
La Belle Helene has recveived several complete recordings. In the early 1950s, Rene Leibowitz recorded two excellent complete recordings of Orpheus, in its original version, and La Belle Helene, and they may still be my favorite recordings. The EMI-Mady Mesple recording of Orpheus is an abridged recording of the later, expanded version of the piece.
In stereo, there are at least four recordings of La Belle Helene:
The earliest is the French EMI, conducted by Jean-Pierre Marty; I like it very much, but the cover photo is ridiculous.
Angel-EMI produced an over-operatic recording with Jessye Norman, tubby sound and too operatic, and the score has small cuts. I hate it.
Accord's recording with la formidable Jane Rhodes as Helen is from an actual performance, so it's a cast album. I love it.
The latest recording, also on DVD, is from Laurent Pelly's production. I like the recording, which includes an Act Two aria for Paris that was cut, and hate the DVD.
