Ganne: Les saltimbanques

July 13th will mark the hundredth anniversary of Louis Ganne’s passing. An important figure of French musical life during the Belle Époque, he made himself particularly famous thanks to his operettas, and notably Les saltimbanques (The Acrobats). In the reference recording of this lovely work, Mady Mesplé performs the main role of Suzanne wonderfully, taken in by a circus company as a child, who finally discovers the truth about her origins and finds love. The cast around Mesplé features the elite of French light music singers including Raymond Amade, Claude Calès and Jean-Christophe Benoît.