From the master of French operetta, who virtually reinvented comic opera in France, this work of genius, studded with famous melodies like the Barcarolle, is as dark a comedy as you can get. No wonder, you say – for it is based on the brilliant, bizarre stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann!
Late at night in a tavern, while waiting for his latest mistress, the character Hoffmann tells an audience the story of his former loves, always shadowed by a dark adversary. These versions of an ideal woman range from a mechanical doll to a Venetian courtesan – and as he recreates them he presents around...
