Analogy: Watching opera on screens is to viewing live opera as eating veggie bacon is to eating real bacon. As someone limited to veggie bacon for health reasons and currently limited to opera on screens for health reasons, I know whereof I speak. That said, I am nonetheless grateful for the alternatives, and the best videos are the ones that make me so wish that I had seen it in person. Met Opera’s 2009 Les Contes d’Hoffman (The Tales of Hoffman) by Jacques Offenbach is in that category and will be available for feasting for free on Wednesday, April 22, starting at 7:30 pm and running on demand from the Met Opera website for the following 23 hours.
From Met Opera video of Les Contes d’Hoffman: Joseph Calleja as Hoffman and Anna Netrebko as Stella. Photo by Ken Howard; courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.
The libretto written by Jules Barbier is based on stories by German author E.T.A. Hoffman, which may have been somewhat autobiographical. In the opera, a poet named Hoffman recounts his three love affairs to friends in a tavern next to the opera house. He is advised by his muse, the goddess of poetry, and thwarted by a different demon in each scene. His paramours are a robot named Olympia, a sick opera singer Antonia, and the Venetian courtesan Giulietta. The muse is trying to direct him away from his current infatuation, the opera singer Stella, staring next door, so that the muse can keep the poet focused on his writing. The opera brings in a prologue, three acts, and an epilogue at slightly under three hours. Offenbach died while the opera was in rehearsal; the music and orchestration had been completed, but some details for acts III and the epilogue needed finishing. This situation has led to constant controversy over Hoffman’s intentions, leading to different versions over the years. The Met’s music director and conductor James Levine chose the 2009 assemblage, giving the muse a greater part and a soft landing at the end. Offenbach’s largest body of work was light-hearted, often satirical operettas and operas. However, Les Contes d’Hoffman though fun, is a serious work of art exploring important themes in both a dramatic and entertaining manner. It begins with the opening lines: “I am wine. I am beer. We are man’s best friends,” and closes with a sad, but wiser refrain, very well done, I think.
There are three productions of Les Contes d’Hoffman in the “Met Opera On Demand” catalog, productions from 1988, 2009, and 2015. So, the question comes to mind why the Met is choosing to stream the 2009 video? The casts in all these productions are excellent, but 2009 has perhaps the world’s reigning diva, soprano Anna Netrebko who plays Stella and Antonia. She was originally going to sing the roles of Olympia and Giuletta as well, which would have been highly interesting, but instead we are treated to coloratura soprano Kathleen Kim as Olympia and mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Giuletta. I might have claimed that each of these ladies stole the show; Kim nails the role and the singing; Netrebko demonstrates the beauty of her voice in sultry style; and Gubanova gives us a dazzling, though heartless courtesan. However, the stealing-the-show honor goes to the fabulous mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey who’s acting and singing are spectacular as both the muse and Hoffman’s friend Nicklausse! Originally Rolando Villazón was to have played the role of Hoffman, but had to withdraw for medical reaons, allowing tenor Joseph Calleja to step into his first performance at the Met, and he does very well in a demanding role. Base-baritone Alan Held completes this stellar cast in fine style, playing all four demon roles. These singers are certainly one of the major reasons to watch.
The 2009 production is also famed Director Bartlett Sher’s premiere staging of Hoffman; the 2015 production with a largely different cast, led by Vittorio Grigolo while retaining Ms. Lindsey, uses Sher’s staging as well. Offenbach’s opera is dreamlike in nature, a fairytale for adults; so, directors can be as fanciful as they wish. The opera is French, so there is also much dancing throughout. Mr. Sher’s staging is highly creative; colorful, varied costumes, and lighting as well as numerous professional theatrical touches rarely give the eye a chance to get bored. Several minor performers have moments to shine as well . Mr. Shear’s staging is another reason to watch.
The last reason to watch is Offenbach’s music. You will recognize the melodies from some of the arias even if you haven’t seen Les Contes d’Hoffman before. Offenbach was a serious classical composer but was also a showman. The music supports the story and on-stage action marvelously. The Met Orchestra under Conductor James Levine plays beautifully, and the Met Chorus is terrific as always.
With any work or production, one can nitpick, but I enjoyed this performance of Les Contes d’Hoffman too much to go there. Treat yourself to this one. It’s not quite bacon, but still manages to be moving and to a substantial degree satisfying. And if you have the chance to see it live, even better!
The Fan Experience: Met Opera is offering a nightly free viewing of selected opera videos during the coronavirus pandemic (Nightly Met Opera Streams). The web page for week 6, April 20-26, has links to pages for the origincal Playbills for each of the operas as well as articles about them. All of these operas are available on “Met Opera On Demand” and can be accessed by subscription; a seven-day free trial is offered. The operas can be played on computers and mobile devices and on smart TVs using Apple TV, Roku, and other such devices. The speakers I have attached to my TV are good ones, but I prefer linking my AirPods to Apple TV and listening that way.
Viewing on your screens does have advantages: you can pause the action anytime you want; you can even back up or play scenes over if you think you missed something. Another advantage of screen viewing are the closeups that video directors provide, closer than if you were sitting in the front row. In Les Contes d’Hoffman, you will see a tear roll down Anna Netrebko’s cheek.