André Messager Fortunio opera to libretto by Gaston Arman de Caillavet and Robert de Flers. Directed 2019 by Denis Podalydès at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Stars Cyrille Dubois (Fortunio), Anne-Catherine Gillet (Jacqueline), Franck Leguérinel (Maître André), Jean-Sébastien Bou (Clavaroche), Philippe-Nicolas Martin (Landry), Pierre Derhet (Lieutenant d’Azincourt), Thomas Dear (Lieutenant de Verbois), Aliénor Feix (Madelon), Luc Bertin-Hugault (Maître Subtil), Geoffroy Buffière (Guillame), Sarah Jouffroy (Gertrude), Laurent Podalydès (Comedien). Louis Langrée conducts the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and the Chœur les éléments (Chorus Master Joël Suhubiette). Set design by Éric Ruf; costume design by Christian Lacroix; lighting design by Stéphanie Daniel. Directed for TV by François Roussillon. Sung in French. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Mark Pullinger (December 2020 Gramophone, page 94), recommends this romcom for anyone seeking “gentle, escapist charm” as a remedy for pandemic boredom or too many Wagner sessions. It’s about a crusty old lawyer with a wife who is too young and beautiful + two would-be lovers of said wife. Here’s a trailer from the Opéra Comique:
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