LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN
Opéra fantastique en 3 actes, avec prologue et épilogue
Composer: Jacques Offenbach (1819–80), completed by Ernest Guiraud
Libretto: Jules Barbier, after Barbier and Michel Carré’s play 'Les Contes d’Hoffmann' (1851)
First performance: Opéra-Comique, Paris, 10 February 1881
SETTING: Nuremberg, Munich and Venice, 19th century
Act I finale
Hoffmann prepares to tell his stories of his three loves to the company at the tavern.
Hoffmann, poète / a poet (tenor): Neil Shicoff
Le conseiller Lindorf (bass-baritone): José van Dam
Nicklausse (mezzo-soprano): Ann Murray
Conductor: Sylvain Cambreling
Chorus & Orchestra of the Opéra National du Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie
Brussels, 1988