Barkouf review – Offenbach’s lost operetta is a quirky shaggy dog story

An operetta in which a dog is appointed Sultan of Lahore and, thanks to a resourceful market trader, ushers in a more enlightened despotism – what’s not to like? Plenty, to judge by the critical mauling doled out in 1860 to Offenbach’s Barkouf. Even Berlioz – a fine one to talk – accused the composer of crimes against harmonic convention. It duly sank without trace until unpublished bits and pieces resurfaced in recent decades. It’s fallen to Opera Rara to splice it back together again, fill in the odd blank and give us a chance to judge for ourselves.

Barkouf followed hot on the heels of Orpheus in the Underworld, against which it must inevitably be considered a failure. Eugène Scribe’s workaday lyrics lack the divine silliness of the composer’s finest collaborators while blunting the story’s satirical potential. Offenbach, on the other hand, was never short of an idea and his energetic score has sufficient tics and quirks to suggest he was on the trail of something a little bit different. The orchestrations are original (there’s four horns) and a string of witty ditties go off like uncorked bottles of pop. Unfortunately, at other times it runs on a lower level of inspiration.

Opera Rara, the Hallé and the English National Opera Chorus gave it their best shot under the idiomatic baton of Paul Daniel. The music sparkled, and a fine cast of French speakers was clearly enjoying being along for the ride (a few audibility issues aside). Anne-Catherine Gillet shone as Maïma, the feisty flower seller who translates the offstage woofs and growls of their canine overlord to her own advantage. Her gleaming coloratura was a perfect match for Valerie Eickhoff’s gutsy mezzo as her market colleague Balkis.

Among the men, Mathias Vidal got some of the best tunes as Maïma’s boyfriend Saëb, including a sentimental ballad with a trio of cellos and a lilting habanera. Loïc Félix worked his socks off as Bababeck, the duplicitous vizier whose treachery ends in the shaggy sultan giving his life to save the city. Pulling the strands together was the tirelessly engaging Alistair McGowan delivering an impeccably crafted rhyming narration, care of the indefatigable Jeremy Sams.