As Adolf Tegtmeier, the alter ego of Jürgen von Manger, knew quite well, overtures exercise an important function in the opera: “They begin, you see, right off with the curtain and start by playing all the melodies in a row, everything that happens to come up later. But this is just to give you the chance to familiarize yourself with the music. And of course it’s important … so that later on you don’t get such a big shock.” The orchestral overtures brought together on the present recording make the listener eager to hear each of the particular works following them. Even those who do not recognize the fine details of their design will enjoy the inexhaustible wealth of their melodies, the irresistible rhythms and lyricisms, and the skilled details of their instrumentation. In their entirety the works on this album invite us to approach Jacques Offenbach’s sumptuous oeuvre by way of unknown paths on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of his birth – without having to worry about “later getting such a big shock.”