Tales of Hoffmann

In Paris, in 1851, the play by M. Carré and J. Barbier, “Tales of Hoffmann,” which was a revision of Hoffmann’s short stories (“The Sandman ,” “ The Tale of the Lost Reflection ” and “ Counselor Crespell ”), was set up as the main character the writer himself spoke of all three stories, and not the characters he created ^[1] . Barbier later reworked the play into a libretto and offered it to several composers, including Offenbach, who was known as the author of the operetta and did not write a single opera. However, in the end, it was Offenbach who got the opportunity to use the Barbier libretto.

Offenbach worked intensively on the opera until his death in 1880 , but did not have time to finish it. At the time of the author’s death in the Opera Comedian in Paris , trials had already begun, but some details for the third act and epilogue were missing. Composer Ernest Gyro worked on the completion of the opera using Offenbach's drafts, but he did not manage to premiere, and the director of the Cavalho Theater ruled out the entire third act. As a result, at the premiere in early 1881, "Hoffmann's Tales" did not look at all as Offenbach had imagined them. Despite this, the opera was a huge success, and at the end of the year its premiere took place in Vienna . At the second Vienna performance, a fire broke out and the theater burned to the ground. This gave the opera a glory of failure, which prevented its future productions.

In 1904, the performance of "Tales of Hoffmann" was held in Monte Carlo . Significant changes were made to bring the third unfinished act closer to the style of the rest of the opera. This version served as the basis for the publication of Chouden (1907), the most widely used. In the publication of Schuden, the original order of Offenbach's acts was observed: Olympia, Anthony, and Juliet. After World War II , new materials written by Offenbach for the opera were found in the archives. And since then, almost every decade, a new version of Hoffmann's Tales has been released. Barcarole from the third act of the opera sounds in many feature films.

Prologue

Tavern in Nuremberg . The muse reveals the intention to make Hoffmann renounce love and devote his life only to her. She takes the image of Hoffmann's closest friend - Niklauss. Hoffmann is hopelessly in love with singer Stella, who is currently singing in Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni . Stella eventually responds to Hoffmann's feelings and sends him a letter asking him to meet in the dressing room after the performance. The letter and the key to Stella’s room are intercepted by Hoffmann's rival Lindorf, who catches the poet in the tavern and taunts, intending to go on a date. Hoffmann finds solace in the booze, tells the legend of baby Tsahez , and then three love stories from his life, corresponding to the three acts of the opera.

Act I. Olympia

Hoffman, being a student at the physicist Spalanzani, falls in love with his daughter - Olympia. The poet buys magic glasses from the optician Coppelius , who went to Spalanzani and demanding money from him (in the end, Spallanzani gives Coppelius a check of a burnt bank). Glasses color the world with bright colors, and Olympia seems to Hoffmann alive. Hoffman with glasses comes to the evening hosted by Spalanzani, where Olympia sings the famous aria Les oiseaux dans la charmille. During the dance with Olympia, Hoffmann's glasses are broken, then the enraged Coppelius appears and breaks Olympia into pieces. In the midst of the laughing crowd, Hoffmann realizes that because of the glasses he did not realize that he had fallen in love with a mechanical doll.

Act II. Anthony

Hoffmann falls in love with Anthony, who suffers from a mysterious illness that worsens while singing. Antonia inherited the singer’s talent from her dead mother, but her father Krespel forbids her to follow in the footsteps of her mother, fearing that she will face the same fate. Hoffman sneaks into Anthony's house in the absence of his father. They decide to get married. When Krespel returns, Dr. Miracle arrives and forces Krespel to allow Anthony to be treated. Hidden Hoffmann learns that his lover can die if she sings, and after leaving Miracle persuades her to abandon her career as a singer. Dr. Miracle, having made Anthony alone, convinces her to follow her mother’s example, to become famous. Miracle evokes the image of a mother in Anthony's mind and makes her start to sing. Krespel appears a moment before his daughter’s death, Hoffman enters behind him, and Krespel, confident that he is guilty of Anthony’s death, is trying to kill him. Niklauss saves the poet from the revenge of an angry father.

Act III. Juliet

In Venice, Hoffmann falls in love with the courtesan Juliet, who is dependent on the mystical Dapertutto, who makes her seduce Hoffmann and steal his reflection. Before that, she stole the shadow of Shlemil in love with her. Hoffman succumbs to the spell of Juliet and loses its reflection. Schlemil challenges Hoffmann to a duel, where Hoffmann kills him, fighting with a sword received from Dapertutto. Hoffmann takes away the keys to Juliet’s room from Schlemil, but the courtesan is already sailing with her new lover, Pitticincho.

(The editors of Jean-Christopher Keck / Michael Kaye, which is considered Offenbach's original original idea, have a number of significant differences. The plot contains a scene of a meeting between Dapertutto and Hoffmann, a card game between Hoffmann and Schlemil, where the latter sings a short aria about the lost shadow, and Juliet’s gambling aria. Juliet asks Hoffmann to give a reflection after a duel with Schlemil. At the end, the guests discover the poet’s reflection is lost and mock him along with Juliet and Dapertutto. Police appear to arrest Hoffman be for murder Schlemihl. Hoffman grabs the sword and attempts to kill a courtesan, but it obscures lyubovnik- hunchbacked jester Pittikinachcho. Juliet heartbroken. Hoffman and Niklauss using bustle, run).

Epilogue

In the Nuremberg hoppy tavern, Hoffmann explains that Olympia, Anthony and Juliet are the three hypostases of Stella, and swears to never love again. At this moment, Muse throws off the image of Niklauss, and the poet obeys her. Stella comes to the tavern to look for Hoffmann, but Muse explains that he no longer loves her ... Lindorf invites Stella to go with him, and she agrees.

According to the plot of the opera, the English tandem Powell - Pressburger directed the eponymous film in 1951.

• Anna Schram Vejlby. Hoffmanns eventyr. - København: Det Kongelige Teater , 2007.

• Libretto in English and French
• Libretto of the opera "Tales of Hoffmann"
• Les contes d'Hoffmann : sheet music by International Music Score Library Project
• Les contes d'Hoffmann in the Gutenberg project .: Libretto of a modified version (as first performed in the USA) in French and English