Jacques Offenbach

Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) was written betweem 1876 and 1880 and is the final work composed by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), who died four months before the premiere, a fear that Offenbach expressed from a premonition, writing to impressario Léon Carvalho, "Hurry up and stage my opera. I have not much time left, and my only wish is to attend the opening night." The opéra fantastique is in five acts (originally in four acts in the Ernest Guiraud completion), with a Prologue and an Epilogue acting as bookends and the stories' framing device. The plot, based on a similarly named play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, tells of the poet Hoffmann and his love for a prima donna named Stella, while the poetry Muse, under the guise of Hoffmann's friend Nicklausse, attempts to regain his attention and abandon all other loves. An evil Nemesis named Councillor Lindorf, seeks to keep Hoffmann from the prima donna so that he can have her for himself, and asks Hoffmann to tell the crowd in a tavern the stories of his three great loves: Olympia, the automaton (Act 1); Antonia, the singer (Act 2); and Giulietta, the courtesan (Act 3). All three loves represent different aspects of Stella, the Nemesis plays a role in each as a different enemy to Hoffmann's love, and the Muse as Nicklausse tries to help Hoffmann in each. An abridged performance occurred at Offenbach's house on May 18, 1879, but the full premiere of the Guiraud four-act version took place on February 10, 1881, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, Jules Danbé conducting. The five-act version most-performed today per Offenbach's intent was published finally in 1907. The Intermezzo and Barcarolle (Intermède et Barcarolle) occurs at the beginning of what is now considered Act 4, the Giulietta act, and is a duet for Giulietta and Nicklausse titled Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour. This concert version for orchestra only was completed by Ernest Guiraud. Instrumentation: 2(2nd dPicc).2.2.2: 4.0+2Crnt.3.0: Perc(2-4): Hp: Str (9-8-7-6-5 in set).