OFFENBACH: Les Contes D’Hoffmann (complete opera) (2010)
Conductor: Philippe Béziat
Cast: Marc Laho, Eric Huchet, Francisco Vas, Nicolas Cavallier, Patricia Petibon, Rachel Harnisch, Maria Riccarda Wesseling, Gilles Cachemaille; Choir of the Grand Theater of Geneva
Stage director: Oliver Py
Studio: Bel Air Classiques BAC049 [Distr. by Naxos]
Video: 1.77:1 1080i HD Color
Audio: PCM Stereo; DTS 5.0 Surround Sound
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Length: 171 minutes
Rating: ****1/2
Finally. I’ve been waiting years for an intense, well-sung, uninhibited, and creatively-directed version of Jacques Offenbach’s final opera. Now it’s here. This latest production by Oliver Py and Philippe Béziat sweeps aside all the weird (Lopez Cobos/Paris Opera), stagebound (James Levine/Metropolitan Opera), and artificial (Kent Nangano/Lyon Opera) productions of this work since Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s prissy 1951 British film version. “Light the lamps of pleasure, there is no divine mercy,” said Offenbach. And so there isn’t, for in this sparkling performance there is only sex, death, and the darkest humor since, well, Calixto Bieito’s controversial production of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck.
Here the renditions of the opera’s great arias never disappoint. Marc Laho as Hoffmann, delivers the twisted song of the dwarf Kleinzach (“Il était un fois à la cour d’Eisenach”) in an appropriately perky and schizoid fashion. The mechanical doll Olympia’s coloratura piece “Les Oiseaux dans la Charmille" is disturbingly –never cutely–sung by the redoubtable Patricia Petibon, shockingly dressed in an anatomically accurate body leotard. Note: She’s also sung in Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers (I have the CD; I wish there were a DVD!) The languorous Barcarole (“Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour”) is so well staged and delivered it may induce you to press the reverse button several times.
Two other singers, Rachel Harnisch and Maria Riccarda Wesseling, perform as the virginal Antonia and the courtesan Giulietta respectively. Harnish sings the heart-rending “C’est une chanson d’armour” with Laho most poignantly. I wish Laho had shown more character as Hoffmann, hammed it up a bit, injected more personal style (as Placido Domingo does). Nevertheless, he’s competent enough in the role and things never bog down when he’s onstage. More impressive is the bass Nicolas Cavallier as Hoffmann’s nemesis throughout, performing a quadruple role as Lindorf/Coppelius/Miracle/Dapertutto. He is arch, lascivious and threatening, and completely subsumes himself in each part. The set is extraordinary, with its elevators, revolving stages, glittering lights, bars of fiery jets, and nudity. Lots of nudity. (None of it gratuitous of course…) To underscore the Eros/Thanatos link, a nude woman masked with a hinged jaw skull sashays onstage in the midst of Antonia’s realization that her days are numbered. It works so perfectly you’ll want to cue it up for your friends– as you will most of this opera.
— Peter Bates
