The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein by Offenbach, From (2015/2015), Directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi,, Conductor Cristóbal Soler, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, Spain

In this way, by having programmed Offenbach’s operetta transformed into a zarzuela, the Teatro de la Zarzuela is recouping a type of musical theatre which was often on stage during the 19th and 20th centuries. Mind you, it was in a convenient “arrangement” (translated and adapted into Spanish) for the delight of the Madrid theatre audience. On this occasion, the well-known French anti-militarist piece will be seen in a Spanish translation, as it was back then. Cristóbal Soler conducts an emblematic production by Pier Luigi Pizzi. The staging is extremely uncomplicated, an example of the style and colour used by the Italian regista who communicates the very essence of French lyrical theatre with the most simple resources. This operetta which tells the amusing story of an extravagant and tyrannical aristocrat is an interesting opportunity to see how an apparently light weight musical genre of the time was also, on occasions, an instrument of accusation and social criticism.