Kultur Video available on November 20 2014 from Amazon for $7.94
UPC bar code 032031204034 ξ1 registered November 20 2014
Product category is Video
Manufacturered by Kultur Video
Product size is 0"x0"x0"
Product weight is 0 lbs.
This is as good a video of the traditional Tales of Hoffmann as we are ever likely to see. It alters the material Offenbach left when he died, but it is the Hoffmann that audiences have loved for decades in a brilliant all-star production. Plácido Domingo is vocally resplendent and theatrically convincing as the poet Hoffmann enduring one amorous disappointment after another. He is supported by a large, expert, international cast, alert to the opera's wit, horror, and pathos. Particularly outstanding are Luciana Serra, vocally flawless and visually mechanical as the singing robot Olympia; Ileana Cotrubas as Antonia, who sings herself to death; Claire Powell as Hoffmann's partner Niklausse; and all four of the deep-voiced villains. This production departs from Offenbach's evident intentions particularly in the Venetian act, which it places second rather than last and pads out with material Offenbach never included. These additions, however, include some of the best-loved material in the opera. --Joe McLellan Seeking to exorcise the failure of his current lve affair, the poet Hoffmann tells the tales of his three past loves - the doll-like Olympia, the high-lass courtesan Giulietta, and the ambitious but delicate Antonia - and recalls how each was thwarted by the evil influence of his rival. In this production by the distinguished film director, John Schlesinger, with spectacular designs by Maria Bjornson and William Dudley, Offenbach's nightmarish world is brought to life. The all-star cast is headed by Placido Domingo as Hoffman: his three loves are Ileana Cotrubas, Agnes Baltsa, and Luciana Serra and the manifestations of his rival are sung by Geraint Evans, Robert Lloyd, Siegmund Nimsgern, and Nicola Ghiuselev. The score, which include such favorites as the Barcarolle and the Doll's Song, is conducted by Georges Pretre.
There are many "editions" of this opera (Offenbach died before completing the score)and this tape offers the standard one. That is it does not use the spoken dialogue or any of the "lost" material now being included in many recordings. More damagingly to the shape of the plot, it does not show the Muse at all at the start of the Prologue, no less her transformation into Nicklausse. For better or worse, it does use four bass baritones as the four villains and four women as the four loves (even Sills cou..
This is probably the best Hoffman on Video. Domingo is at his peak here, the best Hoffman I've ever heard singing the best I've heard him sing the role. Particularily good are the Ballad of Klinzach and "Amis! L'amour tendre", which is acted excellently by Domingo and features some really great buisness from Anges Balsta, Domingo and the chorus.The conducting of Pretre is speedy, and most of the time it works, but, in some places (like the Baracolle, sung beautifully) it seems the singes can hardly keep up...
I've owned the LaserDisc of this 1981 performance for many years. I've tranferred it to DVD so I could view it conveniently in a DVD changer because I'd lost hope it would ever appear commercially on DVD. The production is brilliant with great "Victorian" touches (in terms of the time period they seem to come from) in Act II; the mechanical "contraptions" are wonderful. The production is fantastic, as it should be, yet seems rooted in the late 1800's. It is also a rich, sensual Royal Opera production. Young..
