The Real Tales of Hoffmann

Of all operas in the standard repertory, none has had a more complicated genesis and textual history than Offenbachs Tales of Hoffmann. Based on a highly successful 1851 play inspired by the short stories by the German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann, the work occupied the last decade of Offenbachs life. When he died in October 1880, the work was being rehearsed at the Opra-Comique. At once cut and rearranged, the work was performed from the start in versions that ignored the composers final intentions. Only a few decades ago, when previously unavailable manuscripts came to light, it became possible to reconstitute the score in its real form. Vincent Giroud and Michael Kayes The Real 'Tales of Hoffmann' tells the full story for the first time in English. After discussing how the work of Hoffmann became known and influential in France, the book includes little-known sources for the opera, especially the complete Barbier and Carr play, in French and English. It describes the genesis of the opera. The annotated libretto is published in full, with the variants, for the two versions of the opera: with spoken dialogue or recitatives. Essays explain what was done to the opera after Offenbachs death, from the 1881 Opra-Comique production to more recent restoration attempts. There is also a survey of Les contes dHoffmann in performance from the 1970s to the present, and supplementary information, including discography, filmography, and videography. The Real 'Tales of Hoffmann' is intended to appeal to anyone interested in the work, specialists or non-specialists. Audiences, musicologists and students of French opera and opra-comique will find it of particular interest, as will opera houses, conductors, singers, directors, and dramaturgs involved in performances of the opera.