Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Georges Prêtre, Conductor

Placido Domingo, Luciana Serra, Agnes Baltsa, Ileana Cotrubas, Robert Lloyd, Geraint Evans, Nicolai Ghiuslev, Siegmund Nimsgern, Claire Powell
Composer: Jacques Offenbach
Librettist: Jules Barbier et Michel Carré

I didn't know what to expect when I popped this into the VCR. From what I've read about Les Contes d'Hoffmann, nobody really knows exactly how it's supposed to fit together, and there is no definitive version or recording.

This is a good video. I don't really know enough about the opera to know how much was cut, rearranged, etc., but what is presented is a fairly good working version that moved along nicely without dragging. And believe me, if an opera has five acts it's best to avoid dragging things out.

Placido Domingo is a truly astonishing Hoffmann. In the first act he simply personifies the crushed drunkard, trying to drown his sorrows in alcohol; and yet in Act II he comes on clean-shaven (kudos to the makeup people, his beard stubble looked very real) and happy, the eager young man who has yet to be disappointed in love. The development of Hoffmann's character - from blind idealism in Act II, through false bravado in Act III and true tenderness in Act IV, and finally to bitterness in Act V - is carried out very smoothly. And I don't need to mention that he sings masterfully. He's Placido Domingo, for pete's sake, of course he sings great.

This video made my job harder by casting different women as all Hoffmann's loves and different men as all his rivals, leaving me with a huge list of people to mention. Forgive me if I'm a bit brief.

Luciana Serra does a great Olympia - beautiful coloratura! She moves jerkily like a doll but doesn't over-exaggerate it, which is good for realisim - you could accept that Hoffmann didn't notice it. You have to laugh at him for being that blind, but that's sort of the point of that act.

Agnes Baltsa is quite convincing as the courtesan Giulietta. She sings beautifully (as usual - I've heard her in several roles and have yet to dislike her work) and nails the character too - she's convincing when faking love for Hoffmann but you're not really surprised when she ditches him once she gets Dapertutto's diamond.

Ileana Cotrubas was my favorite of Hoffmann's three loves. She sang a really lovely Antonia, and a very sympathetic one, realistically drawn to her death by Dr. Miracle (and the voice of her mother.) Bravo.

Lindorf (Robert Lloyd) was well-performed. It was odd - despite the fact that different men played all the rivals, Lindorf randomly pops out of the mirror at the end of the Giulietta act. Was this meant to suggest that they were spiritually one being? Maybe he was present in Acts II and IV as well, but if he was I didn't notice. It seemed like a strange piece of staging.

Geraint Evans as Coppelius was actually pretty funny, with the weird eyes and things stuck hidden all over his clothes. I liked his performance and his voice suited the role.

Siegmund Nimsgern delivered an excellent "Scintille, diamant" and made a very dignified Dapertutto, manipulating everyone from behind the scenes.

Nicolai Ghiuslev was a truly creepy Dr. Miracle with a fine voice. This act in particular was very well done as a whole.

I liked Claire Powell's Nicklausse very much, although I missed the duet with Hoffmann in the Olympia act, which seems to have been cut in this production.