Les Contes d'Hoffmann

by Jacques Offenbach (libretto Jules Barbier and Michel Carré)

seen by live streaming from Covent Garden on 15 November 2016

John Schlesinger's opulent 1980 production of this, Offenbach's last  opera, is being revived for the last time under the direction of Daniel Dooner, with sets designed by William Dudley and costumes by Maria Björnson. Conducted by Evelino Pidò, it features Vittorio Grigòlo as Hoffmann, Kate Lindsey as Nicklausse, Sofia Fomina as Olympia, Christine Rice as Giulietta, Sonya Yoncheva as Antonia and Thomas Hampson as the four villains Lindorf, Coppélius, Dappertutto and Dr Miracle.

Three of E.T.A. Hoffmann's stories are adapted to include Hoffmann himself as a character, to illustrate his failed love affairs, by way of explaining why in the Prologue he is a drunken wreck only capable of singing comic songs or descending into maudlin self-pity, and why in the Epilogue the opera singer Stella, with whom he is currently infatuated, leaves him for the odious but self-confident Lindorf. Hoffmann's young companion Nicklausse is unable in any of the stories to extricate his friend from his follies, but at the end is transformed into Hoffmann's muse who summons him to write rather than to destroy his life further.



The opera thus allows Offenbach free reign to indulge in three highly Romantic scenes reflecting the artist's fraught connection with three different types of woman, an opportunity he seized to produce some really beautiful music. But first there is a rowdy tavern scene in which Count Lindorf subverts Stella's go-between and discloses to us his plan to discredit Hoffmann. When the poet arrives during the interval of the opera in which Stella is performing, he is already in a pitiable state, joining in the general buffoonery before offering to tell his pitiful tales.

We start with the story of Olympia. Hoffmann, when he appears, is dapper and young, and eager to meet the beautiful Olympia, whom he has glimpsed in a window. He remains blissfully unaware (through having been offered magic glasses by the malevolent Coppélius), that Olympia is in fact an automaton. She sings and dances in a stiff and exaggerated style, but eventually loses control and breaks. Sofia Fomina gave a brilliant performance executing the coloratura aria with inhuman aplomb while jerking her hands just as a wind-up toy would. Society has come to look at Olympia and is delighted with the entertainment; Hoffmann's confusion only adds piquancy to their soirée.

The second story concerns Giulietta, a Venetian courtesan - the act opens with the famous barcarole sung as a duet between Nicklausse and Giulietta, setting the scene for languorous dissipation. When Hoffmann again falls into raptures he is unaware that Giulietta has been persuaded by Dappertutto to steal his reflection; later he kills a rival in a duel but loses Giulietta who sails away contemptuously laughing. All the opulent luxury of Venice thus masks a tawdry tale of betrayal.

Finally a more cautious Hoffmann approaches Antonia, whose father has removed her from danger knowing that she is unwell. The problem is that if she sings she will die - but if she gives up singing she feels she is betraying her dead mother (a singer) and giving up the life of art for mere domesticity. This false dichotomy is put to her by Doctor Miracle; Hoffmann is not aware of the true situation and is happy to sing a love duet with her, then distressed to find that she is hesitant about giving up her art. But Doctor Miracle, in conjunction with the spirit of Antonia's mother, enjoins her to sing until she expires; once again Hoffmann is thwarted.

The stories in summary look rather implausible, but the music is compelling, and the production justly famous for creating the different worlds of each act. The cast sang and acted extremely well, the three women beautifully portraying the different aspects of womanhood to which Hoffmann is attracted, while Thomas Hampson relished the various villainous roles. Vittorio Grigòlo, taking the part that Placido Domingo sang in the original 1980 staging, was an engaging Hoffmann with a fine voice.