Jacques Offenbach searched for the composer of a waltz his mother used to sing when he was a child. Inspired by this detail from the composer's life, the director Barthélémy Fortier and musical director Guillemette Daboval envision a miniature comic opera brought to life through excerpts from Offenbach's greatest operas. The artists of the Académie showcase their full theatrical and vocal talent in this performance.
Direction and libretto, Barthélémy Fortier • Musical conception and direction, Guillemette Daboval • Featuring artists from the Académie de l'Opéra-Comique: Déborah Salazar, Thaïs Raï-Westphal, sopranos • Flore Royer, mezzo-soprano • Paul-Louis Barlet, Félix Merle, baritones • Flore-Élise Capelier, pianist and choir director • Hélie Thonnat, actor • With the participation of children from the Maîtrise Populaire de l'Opéra-Comique
See all the castDuration: 1 hour | Salle Bizet
Prices: €25, €15 (under 18s), €6 (school groups)
Meet the artists of the production after the performance on Friday, March 20 (following the 10:30 a.m. show) and on Sunday, March 22, 2026.
Jakob and the Lost Waltz
In Barthélémy Fortier’s libretto, Offenbach becomes Jakob, a teenage boarder who has broken the music box his mother left him, and with it, the memory of the waltz she used to play. To find it again, he sets off. This journey will take him from the deck of a ship caught in a storm to the island of Tulipatan, from a cave inhabited by brigands to the gods of Olympus, from an extravagant dinner to the moon.
Each stage corresponds to a phase of mourning: shock, denial, anger, sadness, resignation, acceptance, reconstruction, a journey through Offenbach’s characters and music. La Belle Hélène, Les Brigands, La Vie Parisienne, Le Voyage dans la Lune, Les Contes d’Hoffmann: over forty excerpts weave the score of this 90-minute odyssey.
The Académie de l’Opéra-Comique
This production is performed by the artists of the Académie de l’Opéra-Comique. They present an intimate opéra-comique that comes to life through excerpts from Offenbach’s greatest operas.
Want to find out more?
After the performance, come and meet the artists and talk to them about their work, their emotions and the secrets of the production.
20 March (school session) and 22 March
Program
- Là dans le port, Robinson Crusoé
- Barcarolle « Va, la brise gonfle ta voile », La Créole
- Terzetto de l’orage, Geneviève de Brabant
- Le Crocodile, Tromb Alcazar
- Couplets du canard, L’Île de Tulipatan
- Ribixi, Ba-ta-clan
- Sextuor « Quel effroi », Boule de Neige
- Couplets du grand Mogol, Barkouf
- Votre habit a craqué dans le dos, La Vie Parisienne
- Quatuor des poignards, Le Pont des soupirs
- Ran plan plan, Barbe Bleue
- Kiss kiss qu’on se transperce, Barbe Bleue
- Après avoir pris à droite, Les Brigands
- Changement de décor (acte 3 n°26 bis), Le Voyage dans la Lune
- Choeur des brigands, Les Brigands
- Chanson de l’ermite, Geneviève de Brabant
- Romance des fleurs, Le Roi Carotte
- De mon ignorance extrême, Daphnis et Chloé
- Pourtant j’ai cru comprendre, Daphnis et Chloé
- Valse du baise-main, Barbe Bleue
- Ouverture, Vent du soir
- Couplets des rois, La Belle Hélène
- Marche des rois, La Belle Hélène
- Après avoir pris à droite, Les Brigands
- Sextuor de l’alphabet, Madame l’Archiduc
- Ah j’en ai vu, Le Voyage dans la Lune
- J’suis ainsi, Le Château à Toto
- Libre et joyeux pour le monde, Le 66 !
- C’est aujourd’hui fête à la cour, Fantasio
- Le Rondo du pâté, Geneviève de Brabant
- Soupons ! C’est le moment !, La Vie Parisienne
- La Barbe lui pousse, Geneviève de Brabant
- Duetto bouffe anglais, Madame l’Archiduc
- Piff ! Paff ! Puff !, La Grande duchesse de Gérolstein
- En route pour la Lune, Le Voyage dans la Lune
- Changement de décor (acte 3 n°25 bis), Le Voyage dans la Lune
- L’Amour c’est une échelle immense, La Vie Parisienne
- La Valse rêvée, Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Artistic team
Distribution
