Opera: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

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I

The artist Hoffmann is obsessed with the singer Stella, whom he only longs for from a distance. On the other hand, he hardly notices the nameless Muse, who is at his side in joy and sorrow. Stella's answer to Hoffmann's advances is not forthcoming, because Lindor, also an admirer of Stella, has intercepted her letter to Hoffmann. Hoffmann's despair does not cure his obsession. Instead, he begins to glorify her in front of a group of students and his Muse.

He relives his relationships with three women in particular − and with women in general.

II - OLYMPIA

The scientist Spalanzani has created a beautiful but blind creature: his daughter Olympia. He buys her eyes from the shadowy merchant Coppélius and pays for them with an unsecured debt. He himself hopes to make a profit by selling OIympia to Hoffmann. Spalanzani forces Olympia to perform in front of Hoffmann and a large audience. Although her vocals falter more than once, no one can see through the facade. On the contrary: Hoffmann falls madly in love with Olympia. His Muse is in despair because of Hoffmann's blindness in matters of love. After her vocal performance, Olympia also has to show her physical abilities in a dance. Meanwhile, Coppélius has discovered Spalanzani's deceit and wants revenge for the unsecured debt. While Olympia and Hoffmann make savage love, Coppélius takes her eyes back. Olympia dies in Hoffmann's arms. He now understands what the Muse had warned him about: Olympia's true nature he never got to see.

 

III- ANTONIA

The instrument maker Crespel forbids his daughter Antonia her great passion: singing. He fears that the same fate awaits her as her mother, who died mysteriously. Crespel's servant Frantz sees his own suffering reflected in Antonia's. He feels called to be an artist, which, however, is made impossible for him by external circumstances. As Antonia begins to withdraw from her father's influence through contact with Hoffmann, the Muse tries to make it clear to Hoffmann that women are just like violins - beneath the untouched surface lurks a soul yearning for self-expression. But again her warnings fall on deaf ears. Hofmann's declarations of love to Antonia end in reproaches that are all too similar to her father's prohibitions: "I'm jealous of the music, which you love too much!" The appearance of the ominous Doctor Miracle interrupts Antonia's rescue efforts. Miracle detects a rare disease: if she keeps on singing, it will kill her. He would know a remedy for that. But Crespel shows him the door. Doctor Miracle takes gruesome revenge: by magically evoking her mother's voice, he tempts Antonia to sing. Once again Hoffmann fails to save his beloved. Grinded between the desires of the men and her own, Antonia finds herself dead.

 

IV - GIULIETTA

'Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour' – in her desire to find true love, the Muse finds herself in unusual company: the courtesan Giulietta shares her longing. Hoffmann, on the other hand, after his experiences with Olympia and Antonia, decided to renounce women and never fall in love again: "Friends, tender and dreamy love is a mistake!" But in a world full of gambling and other addictions, he again falls prey to a woman − Giulietta. He is unaware that Giulietta is under the influence of the sinister Capitaine Dapertutto. In return for jewelry and diamonds, he forces her men to depend on her and to rob them of their identity. Her latest victim has lost his shadow at the hands of her. Now she must steal Hoffmann's reflection. Although Hoffmann initially laughs at her, Giulietta tries to warn him one last time against herself but then she gives in to her destiny: she makes Hoffmann dance to her will and fulfills Dapertutto's command: 'Your reflection, your soul and your life ... give me all that, my friend!' Desperate, the Muse must witness Hoffmann lose his entire identity through his possession.

V

When Hoffmann reappears from the world of his stories, he sees the world with different eyes. His audience mocked him—all three stories actually involved just one woman. But through his stories, Hoffmann has freed himself from his obsession with Stella. Instead, he finally realizes who really is the woman of his life. Saying goodbye to the Muse could be a new beginning...

 

Credits

Creative Team

Musical Supervision

Federico Santi

Director

Lorenzo Maria Mucci

Scenography

Merel de Vroome

Choir

Hans Leenders

Light

Kevin Liederkerken

Assistant conductors

Luciano Meloni

Christoph Schiffers

Assistant Director

Anna Mathioudaki



Pianist

Daniel Ruíz

Cenzano Caballero

Production manager

Luke Mitchell

Cast



Hoffmann

Leo Jaewon Jung

Raimonds Linajs

Antonia 

Vasiliki Chanou

Manon Duboc (also Stella)

Olympia

Carmen Bosó (also Stella)

Sophie Collin

Giulietta

Sílvia Ferreira Sequeira

Eline Meijs

Nicklausse / La muse

Solveig Óskarsdóttir

Adèle Sterck Filion



Une voix

Lydia Kakopierou

Lindorf/Coppélius/Le docteur Miracle/Dapertutto

Juan Arnulfo Tello soto

Hao Wen

Cochenille/Frantz/Spalanzani/Pitichinaccio

Pascal Franssen (also Andrès)

Anders Pettersson (also Nathanaël)

Crespel/Luther/Peter Schlémil

Daniel Mosquera

Nima Pournaghshband

Hermann

Joshua Franken



Choir

Luna Gräfin von Hardenberg

Malena Hoffmann

Sarah Meyer

Victoire Nier

Andrea Palomo Alcántara

Nora Tarraf

Jeske de Haart

Orchestra

Flute/ piccolo     Natalia Ramos Kurland

Oboe / EH          Serol Yapici

Clarinet              Andrew Cheong

Bassoon             Miguel Castro García

Horn                   Oriol Gomez Sierra

Violin 1                Ilaria Taioli

                             Joanna Boultadaki

Violin 2                Jonathan Turgeon

Viola                    Oleksandr Yukhymovych

                            Maria Martinez Calderon

Cello                    Jorge Fores Blasco

                            Catarina Jardim Santos

Double bass        Gabriel Gonzales

Harp                    Nagisa Tanaka

Percussion          Andrea Armas Batista

With thanks to

Maastricht Verkennersband

Opera Zuid

The European Opera Academy