8th November 2024
SPHERE's Lisa Barnard took a seat at the dress rehearsal of The Tales of Hoffmann at The Royal Opera in London. This dazzling new production, audaciously directed by Damiano Michieletto, brings together a starry cast for a mesmerising journey through Hoffmann’s disastrous love tangles and disillusionment, delivered with panache. Catch this in London if you can - it's a visual and aural treat.
Thwarted love and disillusion are serious topics, but if you wish to experience an interpretation of these themes that is flamboyant, imaginative and poignant – all at the same time – then The Tales of Hoffman production by The Royal Opera is a must-book. Director Damiano Michialetto’s new staging of Jacques Offenbach’s Opera Fantastique is a feast for the eyes and the ears.
This is the tragi-comedy story of the poet ETA Hoffman, who in his drunken old age harks back to his desperate and disastrous entanglements with the three objects of his love at different stages in his life. These are Olympia, the mechanical doll, Antonia, the crippled daughter of the widowed Crespel, and Giulietta, the entrancing courtesan in a Venetian palace. The latter is one half of the opera's famous Barcarolle duet, 'Belle Nuit', ô nuit d'amour' with Nicklausse, Florez's sidekick,
None of these ‘histoires’ have a chance of a successful outcome; they are partly doomed by circumstance and partly cursed by the manipulative trickery of the ‘evil genius’ Four Villains, creating a tension and suspense throughout the three acts.
From a giant eyeball lodged in the socket of the scene sets, swivelling searchingly around the stage, prancing demons clad in deliciously camp purple sequinned tights with red sequinned nipples, a parrot puppet, floating mathematical equations, a hovering stilt walker, the destruction of a cello before your eyes, combined with a stellar cast and powerful acting, this is lavish entertainment and gorgeous opera. Delivered with flair and imagination, and while nearly four hours in length with two intervals, it is impossible to be bored.
The stellar cast includes Juan Diego Flórez as Hoffman, Ermonela Jaho, Olga Pudova and Marina Costa-Jackson singing the three lovers (the latter two making their debut at The Royal Opera), Alex Esposito as the chillingly wicked Four Villains, Christina Rice as Muse and parrot-whisperer, and Julie Noulianne as Nicklausse, Flórez confidant, incarnated as a parrot.
Visual boundaries are pushed in the wacky, surreal sets by Paolo Fantin, the exuberant costumes by Carla Teti and the impactful lighting by Alessandro Carletti, creating an aura of spectacle throughout. Add a dazzle of dancing, a light dose of wit, and an energetic orchestra that gives space to the dynamic stage action under the baton of conductor Antonello Manacorda – you are in for a treat.
The incarnations of the evil genius, the Four Villains, who appear in different guises to destroy the objects of Hoffman’s love from the tentacles of his demonic grasp are Lindorf (Councillor of `Nuremberg) Coppelius (scientist), Dapertutto (sorcerer) and Dr Miracle (doctor). The baritone Esposito with his powerful projection dials up the macabre and holds the stage, sending a shiver down your spine.
The Peruvian Flórez is at times arguably overshadowed by these strong characterisations, powerful voices and the scale of the production, but sings clearly and with charm, even as a pitiful old man. The role makes big acting demands, ranging from a young boy to an old drunk, and Flórez seems to grow into it as time passes and by the third Act seems in his element.
The production is populated by an enormous assembly from The Royal Opera Chorus and punctuated by set-pieces, adding 'oomph' to the experience. These are carefully choreographed and create a sense of scale, especially the drinking scene at Luther’s Tavern in Nuremberg and the schoolroom scene with the young Hoffman surrounded by his fellow pupils under the beady eye of the inventor Professor Spalanzani. Hoffman is bewitched the moment he sets eyes on Olympia.
Olga Pudova’s performance as the mechanical doll Olympia is priceless, especially her rendering of the famous Doll’s Song ‘Les Oiseaux dans la charmille’ (‘Songbirds in the grove of Eden’). Her physical automation combined with her extraordinary coloratura aria, hitting astonishing top A flat notes, brought thunderous applause and rapturous cheers from the audience.
While the opera was conceived in the late 19th century, it’s the equivalent of falling in love with Alexa today, except that Olympia's voice is somewhat superior! The lyrical irony means the joke is on the audience - Hoffman fell for the doll Olympia because she was so life-like, and for Pudova's spectators she is so convincingly robotic and her notes so faultless, it is hard to believe she is human.
Ballet is a dominant feature of the production, with flamboyant choreography by Chiara Vencchi, and the child balletic scenes are enchanting and amusing. The young ballerinas create mischief for their ballet master, where Christophe Montagne excels in the role.
Ballet is also a theme in Michieletto's reinterpretation of the opera. Here Antonia is a crippled dancer, rather than a singer as in the original, and her opening aria about a lost love is the most moving scene of the production.
Marina Costa-Jackson is the glamorous and bewitching courtesan Giuletta, displaying her vocal powers in the final act. The Venetian carnival party is another set-piece in the production, whose guest list includes a creepy plague doctor with a curved beak.
Offenbach wrote Les Contes d’Hoffman at the end of his life as his last work, when he was beset with illness, his reputation in tatters and he died during the rehearsals. No doubt he intended it to be his masterpiece. There is no doubt it is.
The opera was complete only in piano score at Offenbach’s death, and his family requested it should be orchestrated by Ernest Guiraud. It was first performed in Paris at the Opera-Comique in 1881 and eventually took a place in the international repertoire as a work of great imaginative power. This new production was cancelled twice during COVID, it has managed to assemble the original cast. The wait has been worth it.
Michieletto, known for his audacious direction, gave his perspective on The Royal Opera's production: “I imagined Les Contes d’Hoffmann as a journey through time, a look into the different ages of the protagonist: the child, the boy, the already disillusioned young man, all represented by the female protagonists Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta. Stella will end the story by destroying Hoffmann’s illusions, somehow as if she was the devil herself. He will thus find himself alone, with all the symbols of his fantasy past world, all representing his poetic universe.”
This new production by The Royal Opera of The Tales of Hoffman is a modern take and a tantalising spectacle, but does not lose its original status. Take a friend who thinks opera is stuffy and full of static divas and they will become converts to the notion that opera can be fun, as well as a joy to listen to.
The Tales of Hoffman runs at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden between the 7th of November and 1st of December 2024.
www.rbo.org.uk/tickets-and-events/the-tales-of-hoffmann-details
