Spend a morning at the opera
Have a devilishly good time at the live recorded presentation of Jacques Offenbach’s fantastical final work, “Les Contes d’Hoffmann,” or “The Tales of Hoffmann.” Recorded on the Metropolitan Opera stage in New York, the operetta will be shown in stunning ultra-HD on the big screen at the Newport Performing Arts Center this Saturday, Oct. 12.
After becoming the toast of Paris with his witty operettas, Offenbach set out to create a more serious work. He chose a successful play based on the stories of visionary German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann as his source. Three of these tales — at once profound, eerie and funny — were unified in the play by a narrative frame that made Hoffmann the protagonist of his own stories. Each episode recounts a catastrophic love affair, and throughout the opera, Hoffmann is dogged by a diabolical nemesis and accompanied by his faithful friend Nicklausse.
The action of the prologue and epilogue takes place in an unnamed German city, in “Luther’s Tavern.” The tavern setting, as well as the lurking presence of a diabolical client, recalls the Faust legend and casts an otherworldly ambiance on the subsequent episodes. Each of these flashbacks occurs in evocative settings representing a cross-section of European cultures: Paris, Munich and Venice. In Bartlett Sher’s production, the world of Franz Kafka and the era of the 1920s provide a dramatic reference point.
Offenbach’s music is diverse, ranging seamlessly from refined lyricism to a broader sort of vaudeville, with the extreme and fantastic story moods reflected in the eclectic score. The juxtaposition of beauty and grotesquerie, a striking feature of the drama, is also found throughout the music.
Headlined by tenor Benjamin Bernheim in the title role of the tormented poet, Hoffmann’s trio of lovers are sung by soprano Erin Morley as the mechanical doll Olympia, soprano Pretty Yende as the plagued diva Antonia and mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine as the Venetian seductress Giulietta. Marco Armiliato conducts Sher’s evocative production, which also features bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the Four Villains and mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya in an important company debut as Hoffmann’s friend Nicklausse.
The production is sung in French, with English subtitles.
The show begins at 10 am, with a run time of approximately three hours and 45 minutes, with two intermissions. Tickets range from $12 to $28.
The Newport Performing Arts Center is located at 777 W Olive Street. For more information, go to coastarts.org or call 541-265-2787.