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The Tales of Hoffmann at Theater an der Wien in Michael Kaye Integral Edition

Feb. 28, 2012

<em>The Tales of Hoffmann</em> at Theater an der Wien in Michael Kaye Integral Edition

Jacques Offenbach’s renowned French operatic masterpiece The Tales of Hoffmann is set for a run at the Theater an der Wien, with five performances from March 19 through 25 directed by Hollywood's legendary film director William Friedkin and conducted by Riccardo Frizza. The production utilizes the Hoffmann integral co-edition by Michael Kaye and Jean-Christophe Keck, roundly celebrated as the most authentic text for Offenbach’s posthumous masterpiece. For what would become his final work, Offenbach used as his source a play on the stories of visionary German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann. Three of these tales—at once profound, eerie, and funny—were unified in the opera by a narrative frame making Hoffmann the protagonist. Each episode recounts a catastrophic love affair, and the failure in love eventually fuels the hero’s future artistic success. Offenbach’s music is diverse, ranging seamlessly from refined lyricism to a broader sort of vaudeville, with the extreme and fantastic moods of the story reflected in the eclectic score.

Offenbach died before the premiere. As a result, upon his death there did not exist an authorized version of the complete score. The work’s history includes several editions, some bearing little resemblance to the authentic work. The landmark co-edition of Kaye and Keck has been hailed as a milestone in the opera's history. This production marks the first performances of this edition in Vienna.

The critical edition by Michael Kaye and Jean-Christophe Keck... makes possible a continuous, musically authentic performance of the whole opera. 
          - The New York Times, 2011 

Authentic, stripped of extraneous material, and dramatically rounded, this production of the composer’s reconstructed original version is convincing... The highly dramatic finale of the Giulietta act...restores the balance with respect to the Olympia and Antonia acts. 
          - Berliner Morgenpost, 1999

Learn more about the production at www.theater-wien.at.

Precise details on this edition of The Tales of Hoffmann can be found at www.schott-music.com.

Jacques Offenbach
The Tales of Hoffmann (1877/1880)
“Les Contes d'Hoffmann / Hoffmanns Erzählungen”
opéra fantastique in 5 acts
libretto (Fr/Ger) by Jules Barbier after the play by Jules Paul Barbier and Michel Carré
edited by Michael Kaye and Jean-Christophe Keck
German translation by Josef Heinzelmann
for soprano, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 5 tenors, bass-baritone, tenor, 5 basses, actors and chorus
2(2pic)2.2.2-4.2cor.2.3.0-timp.2perc-2hp.org-str
a reduced orchestration is also available
170’

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