Offenbach's opera Les Contes d'Hoffman is an homage to E.T.A. Hoffmann, the supreme master of Romantic fantasy and musical rapture. The fascinating Offenbach, who appeared to some as a figment of Hoffmann's fervid imagination, drew his inspiration, as the title indicates, from Hoffmann's stories. Relying on such eminently Hoffmann-esque motifs as death, damnation, alcoholic intoxication, the supernatural, and above all, love, Offenbach's music conjures up a scintillating world in which charm and brilliant wit triumph, ...
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Offenbach's opera Les Contes d'Hoffman is an homage to E.T.A. Hoffmann, the supreme master of Romantic fantasy and musical rapture. The fascinating Offenbach, who appeared to some as a figment of Hoffmann's fervid imagination, drew his inspiration, as the title indicates, from Hoffmann's stories. Relying on such eminently Hoffmann-esque motifs as death, damnation, alcoholic intoxication, the supernatural, and above all, love, Offenbach's music conjures up a scintillating world in which charm and brilliant wit triumph, albeit temporarily, over death and despair. Unlike the typical Offenbach creation, this opera, as Richard Osborne explained in the liner notes, is "a work that allows us to glimpse aspects of his inner self which friends may have guessed at but rarely saw." The protagonist, of course, is Hoffmann himself, and this role is gloriously sung by Nicolai Gedda, whose beautiful articulation, spontaneity, and captivating expressiveness hugely contribute to the success of this performance. As...
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