Gloria joins the Opéra de Monte-Carlo as Pauline in Offenbach's La Vie parisienne for her House Debut, a Bru Zane production with Les Musiciens du Prince conducted by Gianluca Capuano.

In the 19th century, the myth was born of a Paris where, in matters of love, anything — even the (un)imaginable — was possible. An idea fueled by the arrival of wealthy Americans discovering Europe far from the watchful eyes of their puritanical mothers and wives. But the capital does not surrender so easily, as La Vie parisienne demonstrates.

Bobinet and Gardefeu, two Parisian dandies, multiply their schemes to win the favors of Métella, a fashionable demi-mondaine, and to get rid of her latest suitor, the Baron de Gondremarck, freshly arrived in Paris with his wife. However, the baroness, a shrewd strategist aided by her friends, foils their maneuvers and exposes them in broad daylight.

With its frivolous portrait of local nightlife, La Vie parisienne enjoyed immense success at its premiere, shortly before the 1867 World's Fair, while the libretto's satirical commentary on military and political current events was promptly censored. We present La Vie parisienne in its uncensored version, carried by a remarkable French-speaking cast, in a sumptuously colorful production by Christian Lacroix, which ends — as Offenbach wished — in gaiety, champagne, and music.