The Tales of Hoffmann

Fantastic opera in three acts with prologue and epilogyLibretto: Jules Barbier, Michel Carré based on stories by E.T.A. HoffmanPremiere: 10/02/1881, Opéra-Comique, ParisPremiere: 4/06/2027Co-production: Staatsoper Unter den Linden, BerlinOriginal French language version with Polish and English subtitles

There are scenes of an erotic nature in the performance

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was one of the most original, although remaining on the margins of the mainstream, representative of German Romanticism of the early 19th century. His incredible stories inspired artists to this day enjoyed the greatest popularity. In 1881 Hoffmann became the main character of Jacques Offenbach's opera. The librettists — Jules Barbier and Michel Carré — did not create a biography of the writer, but let him into the world of his own stories.

We meet Hoffmann as a thrill-seeker who confesses to his former love conquests, always ending without a happy ending. In the following acts we travel to different parts of Europe and witness the romances of the poet: with the mechanical doll Olympia, the singer Antonia and the courtesan Giulietta. In each case, a villain stands in the way of happiness, and Hoffmann is saved from oppression by his friend Nicklausse. Will the artist, experienced by life, finally find the desired love in the arms of the primadonna Stella, who seems made for him?

Jacques Offenbach is associated primarily with the world of operetta, of which he became the undisputed master, but as an artist he sought to be recognized also as the creator of “serious” opera. Hoffmann's stories are his last, written just before his death, and a most successful attempt to show that he was not just a provider of light entertainment. His “fantastic opera” combines tragedy and farce, German romanticism and French irony with extraordinary dexterity — as befits a German-born naturalized Frenchman with the Order of the Legion of Honor in his lapel.

Lydia Steier, a director working in the most important European theaters, was fascinated by the world of Hoffmann and Offenbach. She created a comic book story steeped in absurdity and steeped in American culture about a burnt-out artist, in which each character corresponds to some element of his personality: striving for excellence, devotion to art and the charms of sensuality. The production, prepared in co-production with the Berlin Staatsoper, invites the audience to a world sparkling with colors, in which romanticism and surrealism, solemnity and grotesque are mixed.

Choir and Orchestra of the Grand Theatre - National Opera