'Les Contes D'Hoffmann' may not quite be one of my favourite operas of all-time, but it has Offenbach's magnificent music-especially Dappertutto's "Scintille Diamant" (sadly absent here), Olympia's Doll Song, "Elle a Fui La Tourterelle" and the Barcarolle- interesting characters especially Nicklausse and the four villains and a very intriguing story structure.
My favourite of Offenbach's operas that's for sure, as well as his most well-known. On DVD, 'Les Contes D'Hoffmann' is very much a mixed bag. With the Powell/Pressburger film and Placido Domingo and Neil Shicoff productions faring the best and the Giancarlo Del Monaco, Vincenzo Lo Scola and Opera De Lyon performances being the worst.
Along with the 2008 Olivier Py production this one from 2013 directed by Laurent Pelly was one this reviewer was mixed on, an inconsistent production with many high-points and a fair few not-so-high points. Never falling down to terrible or risible but lacking the magic and zest to make it memorable or outstanding.
There is a lot to like about it musically. The orchestra give a stylish, dynamic and nuanced account of the score with a lot of colour that the staging was lacking in, and Stephane Deneve's conducting is alert and sympathetic, even if his conducting was for some people lacking in high spirits considering what was going on onstage it fitted.
Most of the performances are good. Coming off best are Laurent Naouri and Kathleen Kim. Naouri looks the part of the four villains, is delightfully sinister in all four roles (particularly enjoying himself as Dr. Miracle) and singing much of the time with sonorous warmth with occasional hollowness at the bottom, doing well with Dappertutto's alternate aria. Kim is the most kinetic of the performers, having to do some truly imaginative and jaw-dropping acrobatics and staging tricks that would have intimidated most people, and is effortlessly charming as Olympia and not only is her singing beautiful in sound but it has character and depth.
Michelle Losier is also mostly impressive as Nicklausse, along with Lindorf the character who ties the story together, singing richly and conveying the protectiveness and suffering movingly, let down only by a tendency to mug. Tatiana Povlavskaya possesses a big, rich voice that doesn't sound too unsteady and is beguiling as Giulietta. Less good is Michael Spyres as a very strained, sounding particularly over-parted in the Giulietta act, Hoffmann and is pretty bland dramatically. The weak link is Natalie Dessay's (a famous Olympia in her prime) Antonia. Not as an actress or as a musician, she is very poignant dramatically and her musicianship as always is very fine, but she does sound like she was having a bad night, her high register is shrill, her middle is worn and her bottom hoarse. The Stella is also very unsteady and quavery.
Pelly's staging did have some imaginative moments, especially in the Olympia scenes, the direction of the four villains, succeeding in still making Nicklausse interesting and the more psychological approach does intrigue. This said, it doesn't completely work, the production does tend to go overboard with the psychology and in a way that jarringly weird and not as zesty or as colourful as a production of 'Les Contes D'Hoffmann' should be ideally.
The prologue, which couldn't have been a less rousing and boozy staging if it tried (looking like they were waiting for a train in a waiting room or something) incredibly bland and dull, the finale is like an anti-climax and absolutely no attention seemed to have been given to the chorus, for all their good singing they are so static it was like watching a concert performance. And even for the concept, while the costumes are alright the sets and lighting are too dark, too grim, too plain and gives a quite colourful but at times dark opera too much doom and gloom.
It looks fine on DVD, with very good video directing and sound but the picture quality is sometimes washed-out.
Overall, has its high-points and has an interesting approach, along with some excellent things musically. But overall it needed more zest and magic and less emphasis on the dark and the psychological, because it made the production too gloomy and weird. 6/10 Bethany Cox
