Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann 奧芬巴赫: 荷夫曼的故事

OFFENBACH

The Tales of Hoffmann                                               143’

Hoffmann: Plácido Domingo (tenor)

Olympia, Giulietta, Antonia, Stella: Joan Sutherland (soprano)

Lindorf, Coppelius, Dapertutto, Dr Miracle: Gabriel Bacquier (bass-baritone)

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Richard Bonynge (conductor)

奧芬巴赫

《荷夫曼的故事》                                                      143’

荷夫曼：杜鳴高（男高音）

奧林碧亞、茱莉塔、安東妮雅、史蒂娜：修德蘭（女高音）

林道夫、哥柏利奧斯、達佩杜圖、米哈克萊醫生：比基亞（低男中音）

瑞士羅曼第樂團 / 邦寧（指揮）

The phenomenal success of Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) as a composer of farcical operettas prevented him from being accepted as a respectable serious composer. It was not until the final years of his life that he was able to concentrate on producing an opera of lasting artistic merit and came very close to realizing his life-long ambition.

Unfortunately, Offenbach died before he could complete the orchestration of Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann). The work was prepared for production at the Paris Opéra Comique by Ernest Guiraud. The première took place four months after the composer’s funeral.

The poet E.T.A. Hoffmann’s infatuation for the prima donna Stella forms the prologue and epilogue of the opera, while each of the three central acts describes his unfortunate love affair respectively with Olympia the mechanical doll, Giulietta the Venetian courtesan, and Antonia the consumptive singer, each time frustrated by the same demonic fi gure that crosses his fate.

The recording selected boasts of a superb cast led by tenor Plácido Domingo, with soprano Joan Sutherland. Richard Bonynge conducts the L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.