La Grande-Du­ch­es­se de Gé­rol­stein

He is generally taken to be the father of operetta: Jacques Offenbach, known for his rollicking music, cheeky parodies and close-to-the-bone mockery, was the bête noire of the Parisian opera establishment, and – at least for a period – his theatre was the place to see and be seen. “La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein” is one of his most successful “Offenbach bashes”.

With its premiere timed to coincide with the Paris World Fair of 1867, the operetta drew fans from the length and breadth of Europe, including Wilhelm I and Tsar Alexander II. In her turn as the eponymous heroine, Hortensie Schneider became so well known that she was granted access to the upper echelons of society as a grand duchess in her own right.

Internationally feted director Andreas Kriegenburg transposes the action from a military setting to a pen pusher’s office – the State Archives of the Grand Duchy of Gérolstein -, where battle is joined against civil-service chaos with the help of the bureaucracy.