Three hours of 1866 Paris partying—buckle up, opera haters, this one's actually fun.
La Vie parisienne (Parisian life) is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, composed by Jacques Offenbach in 1866, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. This work was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects. It became one of Offenbach's most popular operettas.
Production
Opéra Bastille staging—massive cast, dizzying costume changes, pure spectacle.
Direction
Roussillon keeps three hours of 19th-century partying surprisingly propulsive.
Acting
Rodolphe Briand's Raoul: chaos agent in a top hat, devastatingly funny.
Director
François Roussillon
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Offenbach invented the modern musical here—without this, no Sondheim, no Chicago, no nothing.
The 1866 premiere ran over four hours; audiences revolted until Offenbach cut an entire act. This filmed version restores some of that lost material.
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