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Everybody knows Jacques Offenbach's fantastic melodies: the snappy Can-Can from his first international triumph "Orphée aux enfers," which had been danced in numerous film classics, or the Barcarole from "Les contes d'Hoffmann." His music sparkles with charming wit, ingenuity, and slapstick comedy. With his famous operettas, Offenbach established a new genre - political cabaret with enchanting musical ideas. Like no other, he hit the nerve of the time of Parisian life in the 1860 and 70s in his over 100 dramatic works. He composed as if on an assembly line. Pieces that flopped landed irretrievably in the bin. This recording by the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Nicolas Krüger is now dedicated to the little-known works that reflect the richness of this unique composer's multifaceted repertoire. In the caustic satires of the times, he turns dogs and carrots into rulers or abducts them to the worlds of knights and the moon: Offenbach Fantastique!