Les Contes d’Hoffmann

by Jacques Offenbach
Fantastic Opera in three acts, prelude and epilogue
Libretto by Jules Barbier
in French with German subtitles
In the opera, the artist Hoffmann finds himself in the throes of a creative as well as an identity crisis. Haunted by his muse Stella, he stumbles upon a surreal world that gets fueled by his own imaginative powers.  He meets three women and puts them to the test of differing ways of passionate devotion: the mechanical puppet Olympia, the singer Antonia who is completely encrossed in her art and finally the calculating courtesan Giulietta. Accompanied by further characters who act like his own conscience’s saint and satan, Hoffmann passes through the surreally altered settings of his imagination.
Co-production of Oper Stuttgart and Teatro Real Madrid
Location
Opernhaus
Duration
Act I/II: approx. 1 h 20 min
Intermission: approx. 25 min
Act III: approx. 55 min
Intermission: approx. 25 min
Act IV/V: approx. 45 min
This production's premiere
2016
Recommended age
from grade 9