Le Testament de la Tante Caroline (‘Aunt Caroline’s Will’) remains one of Roussel’s least-known works. It’s an energetic and imaginative operetta that sits perfectly in the lineage of French musical comedy, with a plot that concerns the conditions attached to the mischievous aunt’s will. The text is inimitably Parisian and Roussel responded with graceful and elegant writing that for some contemporary critics evoked the music of one his orchestral masterpieces, Le Festin de l’araignée. The operetta is heard here in the revision requested by Roussel’s widow which cuts three acts down to one.

Established in 2012, Les Frivolités Parisiennes was created out of a desire to recover French Light Music of the 19th and 20th centuries, comic opera, opera buffa and musical comedy. With this in mind, the company annually produces new productions or revivals, of which a number have been recorded by Naxos.

Cast:
- Béatrice: Marie Lenormand (mezzo-soprano)
- Christine: Marion Gomar (soprano)
- Noémie: Lucile Komitès (mezzo-soprano)
- Jobard: Aurélien Gasse (baritone)
- Ferdinand: Charles Mesrine (tenor)
- Lucine: Marie Perbost (soprano)
- Noël: Fabien Hyon (tenor)
- Maître Corbeau: Till Fechner (bass-baritone)
- Patogène: Romain Dayez (baritone)