Three hours and thirty-five minutes of familiar music on fabulous storybook sets… I am spellbound—Offenbach’s opera is devilishly appealing. The final tableau is quite the party. Multiple curtain calls and cheers follow sustained applause.
The devil shares the best parts with storyteller Hoffmann and his ladies. He has his helpers, of course, corny, or do I mean horny, cabaret devils, magic tricks, a man on stilts, another in Venetian plague mask. Offenbach roams from Nuremberg to Paris, to Munich, to Venice in his tales.
Sung by high tenor Juan Diego Flórez, poet Hoffmann, an old man now down on his luck, encouraged by drink, is recounting his fantastical stories of love in a theatre Bierkeller in Nuremberg. The chorus reminds me of Gounod’s Faust. Librettist Jules Barbier just so happened to have written the libretto for Gounod’s Faust.
What triggers off these reminiscences is singer Stella, with whom he thinks he is in love. She is performing in Don Giovanni; in its interval, students persuade him to tell his stories. He sings a jolly catchy song about the dwarf Kleinzach—Offenbach inserting a bit of operetta here. It is delightful in its drinking song fashion. This is a prologue warm-up.
Then he reminisces about his past three loves, Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta. Director Damiano Michieletto puts it in a nutshell, "I imagined Les Contes d’Hoffmann as a journey through time, a look into the different ages of the protagonist: the child, the boy, the already disillusioned young man, all represented by the female protagonists Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta. Stella will end the story by destroying Hoffmann’s illusions, somehow as if she was the devil herself. He will thus find himself alone, with all the symbols of his fantasy past world, all representing his poetic universe.”
Luckily, Hoffmann still has his Muse Nicklausse (mezzo Julie Boulianne) with him. For some reason, the director has her in the guise of a parrot? Reference to Mozart’s The Magic Flute perhaps? Offenbach was, after all, nicknamed ‘the Mozart of the Champs-Élysées’. But there is also his diabolical nemesis in each story. Bass baritone Alex Esposito sings the Mephistophelian Four Villains, Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr. Miracle and Dappertutto, with superlative t/ease.
Olympia you will recognise as the mechanical doll from the ballet Coppélia. For me, this is the standout performance of the evening. Olga Pudova blows every cobweb away with her stunning coloratura soprano voice. What a debut from a Mariinsky ensemble member. A science lesson, Big Brother’s eye is watching. Algebraic formulae descend. Schoolboy Hoffmann is in thrall to her—the dangers of AI… not to mention calisthenics, choreography by Chiara Vecchi.
Next is Antonia (a house favourite soprano Ermonela Jaho), in the original a frail singer. Here she is a ballet dancer on crutches. Shifting stage vitrines conjure up layers to the stories. Is that Anna Pavlova’s photo in the Antonia section? It also gives an excuse for baby ballerinas with Franz as ballet master (the gorgeous Christopher Mortagne, who recently sang M Triquet in Eugene Onegin, sings three other roles). Dr Miracle makes sure of her demise.
In gold lamé dress, courtesan Giulietta (soprano Marina Costa-Jackson gets to sing that lovely barcarolle Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour in her house debut)—the mature lady next to me is bobbing her head to the music. Offenbach has that effect. Dappertutto gets Giulietta to steal Offenbach’s reflection.
Thwarted by the devil, Offenbach comes back to the present. His three infatuations are really facets of Stella. Lindorf gets to go off with her. Offenbach is now in his cups, in vino veritas, but he has his muse of poetry.
Dazzling singing from everybody, too many to mention, but I can’t sing their praises highly enough. They are all terrific in demanding roles. What a clever, bursting with talent if overloaded with references and metaphors (the smashing of white cellos), production. There is so much more, you have to see it. I’m still thinking about it.
The Tales of Hoffmann, an opéra fantastique, is Jacques Offenbach’s final work. Sadly, he didn't live to see its première. It is fantastic in every way. Paolo Fantin’s sets, tiered vitrines illustrating a picture book tale; Carla Teti’s sharp costumes (devils with red sequin horns and nipple shields); and Alessandro Carletti’s lighting, tall leering shadows and walls tinged yellow, pink, green, are magical.
Michieletto, in this co-production with Opera Australia, Opéra National de Lyon and Fondazione Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, has pulled together a wonderful team of creatives, musicians and singers under the baton of conductor Antonello Manacorda. A four, if not five, star production.
It will be streamed in cinemas Wednesday 15 January 2025 with an Encore on Sunday 19 January 2025. Colour, spectacle, glorious sound, the dancing (fairies, mice, devils and more) is the only thing that leaves me cold. The rest is hot, hot, hot.