Fantasio - Opéra Comique by Jacques Offenbach

In a fairy-tale Munich, free-spirited students roam the night streets while the Bavarian Princess Elsbeth is to be married to the Prince of Mantua for reasons of state. Behind the name Fantasio hides a melancholic student who wants to save the princess from this fate: disguised as a court jester, he sneaks into the royal chambers and thwarts the diplomatic plans. In three grand duets, the love story between them gradually unfolds.

The lyrical-romantic score, premiered in Paris in 1872, combines moments of shimmering sonic beauty with a pronounced comic side - for instance in a parody of beer-soaked Bavaria or in a role swap between the prince and his adjutant.

The buffoonish layer recalls Offenbach the great operetta composer, while the fantastical side already foreshadows his later opera The Tales of Hoffmann.