Andre Messager Veronique

This is one of a series of twelve recordings of French operettas (including an unusually good "Merry Widow" heavily disguised as "La Veuve joyeuse") issued by EMI France in the 1960s and early 70s. The series was of high quality and strove for true operetta form, avoiding the self-consciously operatic approach on the one hand and the Broadway musical style on the other. The two leads, Mady Mesple and Michel Dens, were superb singers, almost unmatched specialists in the French operatic repertory, and equally fine for this lighter fare, too. "Veronique," so far as I can tell, never made much impact here in North America. In France, though, it is regarded as one of the foremost of French operettas. In translated form, the English took it to heart for many years as a sort of junior-grade Gilbert and Sullivan. However you take it, "Veronique" offers a pleasurable 96 minutes-worth of entertainment and deserves five stars.