(Foto: T+T Fotografie / Toni Suter + Tanja Dorendorf) Opernhaus Zürich is set to present oper für alle on July 12 at the Sechseläutenplatz. The company will present “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” live at the open-air stage starting at 17.00 with the opera performance at 19.00. Admission will be free. Additionally, the company will broadcast on the OperaVision platform. “Les Contes {…}
The Royal Ballet and Opera is set to present Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffman” in a new production by Damiano Michieletto. The production first made its premiere in Sydney and Venice. In a statement, Michieletto said, “The journey of these Contes d’Hoffmann should have started right from London in 2020. The project was then stopped by Covid. But that was just {…}
(Credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024-25 live in HD series is set to open with Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” The opera will be shown in HD on Oct. 5 with Benjamin Bernheim taking on the lead role. The HD will mark his second following his acclaimed run of Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette.” He will be joined by {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Metropolitan Opera) (This review was written in collaboration with Francisco Salazar) After a hyped but underwhelming opening night, the Met Opera’s second at-bat in the 2024-25 was the revival of a French classic that it hadn’t showcased since 2017. “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” is an incredible opera, rich in imagination, both in its musical and dramatic qualities. {…}
It is blatantly evident that there is a connection between the advent of cinema and the decline of Opera. Once the main form of entertainment, the operatic stage lost its prominence to the silver screen. There is something that opera used to give that cinema somehow gave, too—the question is what? Last year, the Salzburg Festival attempted to bridge the {…}
(Credit: Emilie Brouchon) Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” might be the most passionate love letter ever written to opera. After a career creating operettas and comic works, the composer set his sights on creating an opera, a work that would align with his style and sensibilities, but also one that would transcend them. And from it came a work that is {…}
The Opéra de Paris has announced a change to its opening night performance of ‘Les Contes d’Hofmann” on Nov. 30 due to the strike. The company said, “As a result of a strike followed by some of the Opera’s staff, the performance of the opera ‘Les Contes d’Hoffmann’ on Thursday 30th November at 7:30 p.m. will be given in a {…}
The Opéra Royal de Wallonie – Liège has announced a cast for its production of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” The company said that Arturo Chacón-Cruz will sing the title role replacing the originally announced Celso Albelo. Chacón-Cruz has performed the opera in Torino, Vienna, Milan, Malmo, Munich, Las Palmas, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Moscow. This season he is set to perform in {…}
This review is for the performance on March 28, 2023. Roland Barthes once wrote an essay about “the Death of the Author;” David Livermore’s staging of Jacques Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” takes that seriously. Hoffmann is shot dead in the first scene. The author dead, does the opera survive? One of the biggest challenges for a staging “Hoffmann” is how {…}
Frédéric Chaslin is one of today’s most important French conductors in the world. He has performed at every major opera theater with major opera stars in a variety of repertoire. He has even composed numerous operas. This season Chaslin is exploring the French repertoire. He opened the season with “Lakmé” at the Liège Opera House and is set to conduct {…}
The Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain has delayed the opening of its production of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” The production, which was set to open on Jan. 20 will now open on Jan. 23. The company noted that delayed opening was caused due to an adjustment in the rehearsal schedule caused by the pandemic. Ticket holders will be allowed {…}