Andrew Lamb reviewed the CD of this production in deservedly glowing terms in last year’s Awards issue. But DVD‚ with similar sound quality plus surround­sound and glowing visuals (and on a single disc) brings us an altogether fuller experience. Minkowski triumphs in both mediums‚ the most idiomatic Offenbach conducting I’ve heard since René Leibowitz‚ much more fluently Gallic and malin than his rival Harnoncourt – and offering a slightly fuller score. DVD also reveals how deftly he propels Pelly’s splendidly loopy production. The alarmingly tinny opening bars come from a bedside TV‚ before which a frustrated housewife dozes. As the music proper starts‚ her dreams become the production‚ full of glamorous magazine imagery – royalty‚ travel‚ sun­kissed Greek beaches – without ever quite leaving the bedroom. It’s properly surreal‚ satirical and sexy‚ and much funnier than ArtHaus’s mannered Germanic posturing. Dame Felicity fits this perfectly‚ a soprano Helen as opposed to ArtHaus’s mezzo Vesselina Kasarova‚ slightly more mature but no less alluring and displaying greater comic talent. She wafts dizzily through the action in a hilarious haze of newly liberated lubricity‚ her delightful Franglais enhancing the comedy. Beuron sings Paris with uncommonly melting tone‚ even in his fiendish yodelling song‚ and radiates fresh­faced toyboy charm. Menelaus is the veteran Sénéchal‚ beaming with complacent idiocy; with Le Roux’s manic Calchas and Naouri’s stiff­necked Agamemnon their Patriotic Trio is a gem. Todorovitch’s Orestes is delightful‚ as are ‘his’ floozies Leoena and Parthoenis‚ and the lesser kings. There isn’t a weak link‚ the fresh­voiced chorus and dancers mingling roles and costumes with manic energy. One of the best DVDs yet.