Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Opera by J. Offenbach
A fascinating and layered opera, one that is steeped in fantastical situations, spells and visions, Jacques Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann – or The Tales of Hoffmann in English – comes to the stage of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with all of its notable enchantment. Offenbach had died a few months before the work's debut performance which took place on 10 February 1881 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. After some dispute between the venue's director, Léon Carvalho, and the opera's librettist, Jules Barbier, the French composer Ernest Guiraud was asked to complete the as-yet incomplete score. A friend of the late composer, he went on to finish Les Contes d'Hoffmann, including several cuts that Carvalho demanded of the work.
Organised into a prologue, three acts and an epilogue, the opera focuses on the life of the poet and Gothic writer, E.T.A. Hoffmann. Barbier based it on a previous work he wrote together with Michel Carré, entitled Les Contes fantastiques d'Hoffmann which, in turn, had been inspired by Hoffmann's own tales. In the prologue, the audience discovers Hoffmann is in love with a singer named Stella. He has a rival for her affections, however, a rich man named Lindorf. In a tavern scene, the two trade insults only to be interrupted by Hoffmann's muse. What becomes apparent is that the opera will henceforth focus on the poet's past three loves. Each love story is told in the subsequent acts.
In the first act, Hoffmann has fallen for what he thinks is the daughter of a Parisian inventor. However, the girl is, in fact, a mechanical doll called Olympia. The poet truly believes her to be real due to a pair of magic spectacles. Later, Olympia is put on show to demonstrate her lifelikeness. In the end, the truth of the situation is revealed when his enchanted glasses are broken and Hoffmann is roundly mocked for loving nothing more than a machine.
The second act is set in Munich, where Hoffmann recalls falling for a girl named Antonia who has a passion for singing. However, her father, Crespel, does not approve of the poet. Nevertheless, the two men agree that due to her weak heart, she should no longer pursue her vocal talents. When a quack medical man, Dr Miracle, says he can cure her, Crespel throws him out, saying that his approach to medicine had led to Antonia's mother's untimely demise. Hoffmann encourages Antonia to refrain from further exertion but Miracle returns with a potentially fatal outcome.
The action moves to Venice in Act Three, where Hoffmann is seduced by a courtesan named Giulietta. She beguiles him at the behest of the villainous Dapertutto, attempting to steal his reflection in the process. The love Hoffmann feels for Giulietta is also doomed. After he fights a duel with her lover, the poet soon discovers that the courtesan already has eyes for another.
This staging of Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino highlights Offenbach's skill in fantasy storytelling through music. What will Hoffmann decide to do about Stella having relived his past relationships?