Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann / Shicoff, Swenson, Terfel, Rancatore, Mentzer, Uria-Monzon, Senechal, Gubisch, Lopez Cobos, Paris Opera

Rating:
Summary: Wait for the audio?
Review: Brilliant singing sabotaged by production "creativeness". At the end one wishes it had been exclusively audio.

This sort of staging supposed to attract "new audiences"; perhaps it does. But Styrofoam-stuffed melon rind is unlikely to bring in even the frantically hungering.

Total change of venue: No Berlin, no Munich, worst of all no Venice (gondolas are not written out of the lyrics but the reference might as well be to the subway--which this production not very originally resembles anyway); no venue at all, but a kind of nudge-nudge generic, unfinished Anywhere, the principals generally in shabby modern get up, only the chorus occasionally coming on in some kind of incongruous costumes.

Nothing is gained by this deracinating shuffle, much is lost. Neil Shicoff at this stage of his career really needs to be costumed; without the tail coat, the boots, the big collars, he is, in rumpled Deputy Public Defender drag, a most unprepossessing fellow notwithstanding his admirable vocalism. Hoffman as fugitive Woody Allen, complete schlimazel, is hard to take. (Where's the Romantic Agony, the dash, the éclat? Why would anyone gather round to listen to this guy--much less forgo Act II of Don Giovanni--who is almost beginning-to-end falling-down-drunk, unlikely to have attracted Stella or anyone else for 15 minutes?) Looming, bulking Bryn Terfel intimidates automatically and does menace without half trying, but the nature of that menace is forever up for grabs. Never exclusively the Evil Spirit, he must as well double as Pecksniffian note taker, Our Town Stage Manager, and 3d base coach.

Also in sad evidence is the current trend of dressing substantial women in the most unflattering schmatehs on offer. The estimable Susan Mentzer, as Muse, and Ruth Ann Swenson as Antonia, look like weight-watcher housewives in morning dishabille shrinking from the milkman's gaze, the former as Nicklausse apparently shoe-horned, to woeful effect, into Hoffman's corduroy cast-offs. Only the lady who needs them least, Beatrice Uria-Monzon, is privileged with party clothes.

About the only "stunt" that works is Olympia as pop-icon, delightfully carried off by Desiree Rancatore.

Rating:
Summary: nothing wrong with it
Review: I am baffled that so many people don't like this production. I thought it is an interesting solution for an opera that is hard to stage anyway. Especially the Olympia and Antonia acts work well. All singers are great. So what's to complain about ? Not enough distracting clutter on the stage ? Good ! I have never seen a Robert Carsen production on DVD or on stage where I didn't have the feeling that he respects the work and comes up with an interesting and visually stunning concept. Ok, Zeffirelli he is not - thank goodness !

Rating:
Summary: The Tales of a EuroTrash Hoffman
Review: I'm all for directors taking a classic oepra and trying to put their own unique "spin" on the staging. I've seen some crazy ideas that have actually worked (check out the MEFISTOFELE on DVD from San Francisco...It's crazy, but good!)..My biggest gripe, however, is when the directors completely ignore the libretto, as they have done here with this HOFFMAN from 2002. When in the third act one is expecting the Barcarolle to be sung on canals of Venice, we instead get an orgy of sorts happening in a movie theatre....That is, in my honest opinion, crossing the line....
This is not to say that the director didn't have a "clever idea" with this production. There are moments when the crazy staging works quite well, but sadly, they are just too few and far between....Check out how uneasy and embarassed a veteran like Michel Senechal looks on-stage with a ridiculous wig on his head!
This is a pity, because this is probably the finest sung HOFFMAN commercially available. The main draw here is Neil Shicoff's protagonist. True, he may be a bit past his prime vocally, but his conviction and dedication for this role is amazing. He truly throws himself into the many different emotions of the character. Having seen him sing it at the MET five years ago, it's great now to be able to watch it from the comforts of my living room.
Also at the MET from that cold night in January of 2000 was the great Bryn Terfel, who is featured here as well. Some of the high-notes find him struggling, but all in all his performance is equally impressive and his stage presence is striking and commanding as always.
The three heroines are all equally well-sung; Beatrice Uria-Monzon's appropriately sultry and alluring Giulietta is a true highlight.
Jesus Lopez-Cobos, a master of conducting French opera, does an excellent job of keeping everything together.
If you can get used to or simply get past this bizarre staging, there is much to appreciate in this weird take on a classic opera.


Rating:
Summary: Another Great Performance From TDK!
Review: Jacques Offenbach was the composer of many operettas that satirized life in 19th century France, many of which are still popular. "Tales of Hoffman" was his last work and his only "serious" opera, and Offenbach died before completing it. This has lead to several "final" versions which is of interest primarily to musicologists.

What should interest a potential buyer of the DVD is the quality of the performance and of the disc. Happily, both are excellent.

"Tales" is a hugely melodic work, with one good melody following another. It is also a work where singing actors have the opportunity to breathe life into what can be rather wooden characters. In the case of this performance, this is exactly what happens.

The plot follows the "unhappy in love" poet Hoffman through three disasterous relationships, protected by his muse, who takes the form of his travelling companion, Nicklausse. He is beset with villainous activities from an evil guy who takes the characters of Lindorf, Copprlius, Dr. Miracle and Dapertutto, but is always the same evil presence.

Neil Shicoff plays Hoffman. He was out of mainstream opera for a while for health reasons, but sings with intensity and fine spinto tone. Although the role is vocally demanding, there is no sign of fatigue. The muse/Nicklausse is played by mezzo Susanne Mentzer, who sings beautifully and acts superbly. The villains are played by Bryn Terfel, who is simply awesome, both vocally and in acting. Hoffman's three lady friends are sung by Disiree Rancatore (Olympia B-), Ruth Ann Swenson (Antonia A+) and Beatrice Uria-Monzon (Giulietta B+). All three ladies do a good job bringing life to their roles.

The performance is truly French, being staged at the Opera National de Paris. It is a modern approach to staging that works quite well, overall. Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducts with authority and sensitivity.

The sound (DTS) and picture are simply excellent. With "Manon" (TDK) and "Romeo et Juliette" (Kultur) the basics of French opera are covered, except for "Faust". Is anyone out there listening?

If you like good opera, well performed, this disc is hard to beat.

Rating:
Summary: Not pleased at all
Review: This is the 2cd time I have ordered an opera on DVD that contained nudity & there was no mention of this. I have family members who are too young to be shown this kind of content. Also the sets were distracting. This was certainly not the best production of Tales of Hoffman, although it may be the only one available on DVD. Hopefully there will be more to come. But I would hope that Amazon or the producer would be mature enough accept the responsibility to disclose such details like nudity so the discerning shopper can make a more informed decision.

Rating:
Summary: another bad hoffman
Review: This is the fourth Hoffman on DVD, all lacking something. This one has beautiful singing but that's where it stops. It is modernized and the villain wears a suit and sun glasses. In no way is he sinister or frigtening. The sets are beyond belief. The Barcarolle has to be seen to be believed. No water, just rows of undulating theater seats surrounding the singers. The worst sin if the casting as most members just don't look the part. Though Suzanne Mentzen sings beautifully she looks awful in the pants role of Nicklausse. And, at the conclusion,in a very brief stint as the Muse, she destroys it as she looks nothing like a Muse should. Many other cast members look like they walked in from Lulu or another opera. This is a Hoffman that would be better heard than seen.

Rating:
Summary: Another case of director-ego-tripping but not all that bad
Review: Two problems. (1) There is an excellent and traditionally staged performance of Jacques Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" on the Kultur label. (2) I am sick to death of operas costumed in modern dress with all the men wearing rumpled suits and overcoats. But I have just seen the 2002 production of this work on the TDK label (DVUS-OPLCDH) given at the Opera National de Paris, Bastille, conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos, and I like it enough to bring it to your attention as a second version for your collection.


For starters, it incorporates a good deal of music discovered among Offenbach's effects long after the shorter version had become traditional. (The original Opera Comique version with spoken dialogue is almost never done; but you can hear it on a Decca recording with Joan Sutherland in the four soprano roles.) This TDK version gives the mezzo singing the Muse and Nicklausse much more to sing and tells us a lot more about Hoffmann himself.


Whether or not Offenbach intended the four female characters to be played by one singer is beside the point. In this production, we have Desiree Rancatore as the robot Olympia, made up to look like and mimic Madonna (another kind of modern day robot), whose aria brings down the house; Ruth Ann Swenson as a sweet voiced but colorlessly characterized Antonia, forced to wear an overcoat over her nightie; Beatrice Uria-Monzon as a sexy Guilietta, palpably stage-managed by her evil genius; and a silent actress as the Eternal Feminine Stella.


Basso Bryn Terfel takes on all four villains, but with absolutely no differentiation among them. Nor does the actor-singer Michele Senechal make much of each of his comic servants.


Tenor Neil Shicoff really knocks himself out as a mostly drunken Hoffmann; but he looks nowhere as noble as a sympathetic hero should look. However, his singing is passionate and believable.


The concept behind the production is Theatre. So the Prologue and Epilogue take place at the bar in the lobby of a theater in which "Don Giovanni" is being given with Stella as the star (in which role, we are not told). The Olympia sequence takes place backstage; the Antonia in an empty orchestra pit (with the orchestra relocated somewhere) and on the apron of the real stage; the Guilietta in rows of theater seats that rock with the strains of the Barcarole. Very clever, but hardly conducive to having us look upon the characters as real people with real problems.


Still I have seen a lot worse in the way of "Director is more important than Composer" opera presentations. I think you will enjoy this one considerably, but please give the Kultur version a good look afterwards.


The running time is 173 minutes, the picture in 16:9 widescreen ratio, bonus features none. The subtitles are in English, French, and Italian.