I had really been looking forward to The Tales of Hoffman at the Met and was delighted with the entire performance. The performance of this opera at the Met had a wonderful blend of great singing, rousing music and interesting drama. The production by Bartlett Sher advanced the essence of the opera in so many ways. In describing the performance, I am sure that I will run out of superlatives.
It was great seeing James Levine back at the Met. He received an ovation each time he came back to the podium. The singing of Anna Netrebko as Antonia was delightful - so lyrical, so effortless, so gorgeous. She also sings the role of Stella. When she sings, I sit there totally enraptured.
Kathleen Kim as Olympia was a superb blend of singing and acting as she integrated the aria Les oiseaux dans la charmille into her movements as a wind-up doll. The performance of that aria was amazing and was duly appreciated by the audience. Ekaterina Gubanova is not someone who I had been aware of previously. She did well in singing the role of Giulietta. Kate Lindsey sang the role of the Muse of Poetry and Nicklausse. She has a pleasant voice and a lot of acting ability and stamina. She was on stage for most, if not all, of the opera either singing or maintaining an interesting presence while attending the action of other characters. However, sometimes her voice did not carry all the way up to the top of the Family Circle where I hang out.
There were two other great voices in this opera. One was that of Alan Held who sang a number of roles including Lindorf. His voice was powerful and impactful. He was convincing as an actor and I found myself forgetting that he was just playing a character.
The real surprise for me was Joseph Calleja who sang the role of Hoffman. He is another singer who I had not been aware of previously. His voice has a kind of broad resonance and tone that I associate with Pavarotti. I thought his performance was very engaging and I plan on following him in the future. This is the aria Ne plus chanter! helas! sung by Netrebko as Antonia and Calleja.
I don't know where to begin with Bartlett Sher's production. In so many ways, Sher created a congruent context for the music and libretto that helped to develop the story while not distracting from it. He portrayed lasciviousness when that was the topic and illusion where that was the topic.
The opera is made up of three tales in which Hoffman pursues unattainable women. These tales are contextualized by the story of Stella, a woman in "real life" who Hoffman pursues, who in the end is also unattainable. The unattainable women in Hoffman's tales are: Olympia - a mechanical wind-up doll, Antonia - a singer for whom the act of singing is fatal, and Giulietta, a courtesan. Within each woman is the seed of destruction that will lead to the failure of the pursuit.
The character of Lindorf as a nemesis appears in a different metamorphosis with regard to each of these tales of pursuit and Hoffman's pursuit of Stella. The role of Lindorf like the rest of the tales springs out of Hoffman's head. Thus, the nemesis which is Hoffman's undoing in each tale has Hoffman, himself as the origin. Is this self-destructive behavior or thinking? Might it actually be self-preserving? Is it ambivalence? The ambivalence may be with regard to whether Hoffman should follow his Muse or engage in worldly "affairs." What is his true love?
I am intrigued with the tale of Olympia. Hoffman's love for this robot is advanced by the pair of glasses he is given by the Lindorf figure. These glasses make the doll real to Hoffman. Hoffman's illusions about Olympia are dashed when his glasses are broken. I think this is a very rich moment in the drama. What is happening here? Is Hoffman pulling himself back from the unreality of his fantasy of romance with the robot by having his glasses break in this tale? Does this also epitomize the ambivalence he experiences: whether to follow romance with Olympia or return to the world of his Muse.
Nicklausse, his friend and the personification of his Muse, is at Hoffman's side during all of these pursuits. Is his Muse there waiting to carry him back to safety? Is she always part of him even when he goes astray? Are these fantasies of pursuit themselves the result of his partnering with his Muse.
The staging by Bartlett Sher heightens the sense of fantasy. In the opera, Olympia in her pink costume dances with robot-jerky movements around the stage. At one point she is surrounded by many colorful, twirling umbrellas with gigantic eyes on them. Antonia appears like a vision from the back of the stage in an ephemeral gown. Giulietta inhabits a world of throbbing, half-naked bodies. All the while, Nicklausse, Hoffman's friend is dressed in a black tuxedo and top hat, as a counterpoint to the more colorful settings.
Though the tales are portrayed linearly, I think the unrealities that they explore are very non-linear. As an observer, I felt like I was bobbing and weaving from one fantasy world to another. In the process, the opera moves us deeper into Hoffman's unconscious. Interestingly, the history of this opera is that many versions of the opera were developed since Offenbach died prior to the completion of the opera. Over the years, the acts were rearranged, arias and music were interchanged from other pieces, parts were dropped and picked up, new parts were found. In the end, the tales arise not just out of Hoffman's head but out of the collective unconscious of several generations of investigators and creators. Bartlett Sher moves this history forward.
Comments