Jacques Offenbach

Historical evocation of Ludwig, king of Bavaria, from his crowning in 1864 until his death in 1886, as a romantic hero. Fan of Richard Wagner, betrayed by him, in love with his cousin Elisabeth of Austria, abandoned by her, tormented by his homosexuality, he will little by little slip towards madness.

A grizzled, hard-of-hearing cowboy, Slim, and his two friends, Dusty and Pete, capture a mysterious, well-dressed Frenchman.

A melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.

Three zany puppets bring to life our greatest opera treasures, as Joan Sutherland, the world’s most famous soprano, performs their highlights. The puppets make up the audience: Sir William, a wise old goat; Little Billy, his nephew; and Rudi, a rather boisterous lion. Sutherland first introduces them to the story of each opera. Then, backed by the London Symphony Orchestra and a first-rate cast, she moves onto the opera stage, complete with elaborate sets and elegant costumes. After each exquisite aria, the diva comes back to her inquisitive friends and unfolds the plot.

The action takes place in the 18th century in Lima. The wandering artists Pericola and Piquillo perform in the town square. They love each other, but cannot get married - the poor artists do not have the means for this. Meanwhile, the Viceroy of Peru, Don Andreas-Ribeira, likening to Harun Al-Rashid, dresses up as a commoner and goes out into the city to find out what his subjects say about him. He falls in love with Pericola at first sight. But the fact that she is not married prevents the Pericole from appearing at the royal court.

Ana Catarina returns from Brazil with her father and her nanny to marry a man she doesn't know and doesn't like. A terrible coincidence happens when, on the same day, the young woman becomes a widow and an orphan, a fact that leaves her heir to an incalculable fortune and coveted by all the aristocrats in the region.

When Barbe-bleue loses his fifth wife, the turbulent Boulotte is selected at random to be the next one. But Barbe-Bleue falls in love with Hermia – who loves the shepherd Saphir – and soon wearies of Boulotte. So, he asks his alchemist to concoct for him an “anti-wife” philtre. But, as on the previous occasions, it is merely a sleeping potion and Boulotte wakes up the other five “dead” wives. They reappear, dressed up as gypsies and bring the truth to light.

Intrigues and entanglements before Prince Paris wins the heart of beautiful Helena. It all happens in the small kingdom of Arcadia at the time of the Trojan War. Swedish version of Jacques Offenbach's operetta of the classic Greek myth.

Seeking to exorcise the failure of his current love affair, the poet Hoffmann tells the tales of his three past loves - the doll-like Olympia, the high-class courtesan Giulietta, and the ambitious but delicate Antonia - and recalls how each was thwarted by the evil influence of his rival. In this production by the distinguished film director, John Schlesinger, with spectacular designs by Maria Bjornson and William Dudley, Offenbach's nightmare world is brought to life. The all-star cast is headed by Placido Domingo as Hoffmann: his three loves are Ileana Cotrubas, Anges Baltsa and Luciana Serra and the manifestations of his rival are sung by Geraint Evans, Robert Lloyd, Siegmund Nimsgern and Nicola Ghiuselev. The score, which includes such favourites as the "Barcarolle" and the "Doll's Song", is conducted by Georges Pretre.

A rich Brazilian, Mendoza, visited Paris in 1900 and was romantically involved with the star of Offenbach's 'La vie parisienne' which was playing at the time. Thirty five years later, he returns with his son and granddaughter, who is engaged to a young Frenchman. But Mendoza's puritanical son forbids the marriage. Mendoza and the actress's friends conspire to change his mind and convert him to 'Parisian life.'

Live performance, Bayerische Staatsoper, 2011. The Tales of Hoffmann (French: LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN) is an opéra fantastique by Jacques Offenbach that combines three short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann into a haunting whole: a melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer. One of the questions this opera poses for any director is how to link the 'tales' of Hoffmann's three lost loves together and knit them satisfactorily into the Prologue and Epilogue. In this production, Richard Jones solves the puzzle by turning it into an autobiographical journey which ends with a grand meet-up of all the characters Hoffmann has encountered: for once, Hoffmann is not presented as a rollicking kind of drunken story-spinner, but rather a sad-eyed, sobered-up depressive, who reaches for the bottle only because his disastrous love life has gone wrong yet again.

This adaptation of three tales by E.T.A. Hoffmann, with a sprinkling of Goethe’s Faust, portrays the German poet as both narrator and hero recounting his love affairs with Olympia, Antonia and Giuletta. Robert Carsen’s spectacular production highlights the melancholy genius of a man marked by life, with a coherence and dramatic sense remarkable for a work that leaves numerous questions unanswered. Under the baton of Philippe Jordan, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Ermonela Jaho, Kate Aldrich, Yann Beuron and Ramón Vargas and Stefano Secco in the main role, interpret the legendary airs of this work whose brilliant mystery will continue to dazzle opera houses for countless years to come.

Marc Minkowski conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera National de Lyon in this 1997 production of Offenbach's opera starring Natalie Dessay, Yann Beuron, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt and Laurent Naouri.

Among DVDs of "Hoffmann" currently available, this is the only one that even begins to stand comparison with the superlative Powell and Pressburger film (whose ideas it occasionally borrows). Olivier Py's baroque imagination, which sometimes leads him into self-indulgence and incoherence, is well suited to bringing out this opera's darkness and he does an excellent job

"Despite the multitude of characters and situations, the plot is simple: the eternal flow of life. It is based on Les contes fantastiques d’Hoffmann, a play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, who were inspired by some of the stories of the German E.T.A. Hoffmann. On a drunken night in the city, Hoffmann tells how he courted and lost three girls, his impossible loves: Olympia, a mechanical doll that only he believes to be truly human; Giulietta, the courtesan who steals his reflection in a mirror; and Antonia, a young woman who sings until she literally dies." Venue & Opera Company: Teatro Regio di Parma Recorded: 1988 Singers: Alredo Kraus, Ruth Welting, Jonathan Omilian, Barbara Hendricks, Elena Zilio, Nicola Gjiuselev, Bruno Buulgarelli, Francis Egerton, Aldo Bottion Orchestra: Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia-Romagna "Arturo Toscanini" Chorus: Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma Chorus Master: Adolfo Tanhzi Stage Director: Beppe de Tomasi

The beautiful and charming laundress Lurette is a well sought-after young woman in Ludwig XV’s Paris. Her heart is already taken, however, and she makes elaborate plans during Carnival to obtain the man she truly loves, the carpenter Campistrel. During her plans to make Campistrel jealous and recognize his love for her, she meets the Duke of Marly, who plans to make her his mistress. The unsuspecting Lurette finds herself caught in a love triangle, and her peer, Marcelline, must save the beautiful Lurette from these scandalous schemes.

English-language version of Ich und die Kaiserin. 'Germany, 1890. Duke falls in love with voice which is not that of empress, but of hairdresser.' (British Film Catalogue)

This adaptation of three tales by E.T.A. Hoffmann, with a sprinkling of Goethe’s Faust, portrays the German poet as both narrator and hero recounting his love affairs with Olympia, Antonia and Giuletta. Robert Carsen’s spectacular production highlights the melancholy genius of a man marked by life, with a coherence and dramatic sense remarkable for a work that leaves numerous questions unanswered. Under the baton of Philippe Jordan, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Ermonela Jaho, Kate Aldrich, Yann Beuron and Ramón Vargas and Stefano Secco in the main role, interpret the legendary airs of this work whose brilliant mystery will continue to dazzle opera houses for countless years to come.

No description available.

No description available.