Hoffmann, 1 Act, foto Frederique Toulet.

Robert Carson has made a success production of Jacques Hoffmanns only opera The Tales of Hoffmann at Opera Bastille in Paris.

In fact this production was first premiered in March 2000, it is a pleasure that the operahouse is keeping this wonderful production so well alive
.

Jesus Lopez-Cobos is conducting the good orchestra, and as allways, with many good soloinstruments
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In the leading roles a wonderful Giuseppe Filianoti in the titelrole
. he has a fantastic lyric dramatic tenor voice, perfect for this role. He is GOOD! Greatly followed up by Franck Ferrari in the four dramatic baryton roles, Lindorf, Soppelius, Dr. Miracle and Dapertutto.which needs a baryton of this high quality.

Olympia - Laura Aikin at Les Conter d´Hoffmann in Paris. Foto: Frederique Toulet

The many female roles vwere good taken care of. I simply love the Olympia doll, brilliantly played as actress, and sung by Laura Aikin
. Extraordinary good. Inva Mula has the beautiful role as Antonia with her many good motives, while Beatrice Uria-Monzon was a good Giuliettea. Ekaterina Gubanova was splendid as The Muse/Nicklausse.

I liked very much Leonard Pezzino in his four roles, but mostly for his good aria as Frantz. Alain Vernel was (as allways) good as Crespel and Luther. Yuri Kissin as Schlemil and the young Vladimir Kapshuk as Hermann.

The libretto is taken from a play that Jules Barbier and Michael Carré (the librettists of works such as Gounoud´s Faust) had themselves put together around three tales by the German writer E.T.A.Hoffmann. All three stories concern manipulated women, – Olympia, Antonia and Giuletta, Hoffmann, transformed into the central character, is both the narrator and the unhappy hero. a fourth tale introducing another woman, Stella, provides the framework to the opera.

Hoffmann, Antonia - Inva Mula and Dr. Miracle - Franck Ferrari. foto Frédérique Toulet

In each case, the quest for the ideal woman is foiled by a diabolic character – Lindorf, Coppelius, Miracle and Departutto. At this Paris production, splendid performed and sung by Franck Ferrari
. The universe of these tales is deliberately fantastic and certain were used by Freud, as a basic for his theories on “Unheimlich”.

The staging in Paris is making this production special, as the Paris National Opera and Robert Carson together is managing to make the production as something extraordinary because of the use of the stage and by giving the singers in the leading roles so splendid surroundings, to in the scenograpgy by Michael Levine, that it for me is like a fairytale

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Offenbach certainly saw Barbier and Carré´s play when it was first performed atthe Odéon Theatre in Paris in 1851. But it was only in 1876, upon returning form his American tour, that he decided to transform it into an opera. He set to work and significantly modified the original structure of the work. When he died the score was far from complete and ewquired a great deal of work before t could be performed.