Les Contes d'Hoffmann

With a story told almost entirely through flashbacks, Offenbach’s only true opera is a kaleidoscopic adventure from beginning to end. Stringing together three stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the work traces its hero’s misfortunes as he fails to woo four women—the automaton Olympia, the courtesan Giulietta, and the singers Antonia and Stella. Under the baton of maestro Riccardo Chailly, tenor Plácido Domingo offers an ardent and moving performance. Ruth Welting, Tatiana Troyanos, Christiane Eda-Pierre, and Pauline Andrey are the objects of Hoffmann’s unsuccessful affections—with Met legend James Morris singing all four of the tales’ diabolical villains.