#stan offenbach!!!

[chansondefortunio]

LOL i loved reading this omg! The 1951 review made me laugh out loud.

You are truly the lord of Les Contes d'Hoffmann, i bow down to our immense knowledge

(and sacrifice after going through the Brussels 2019, the Madrid 2014, and ESPECIALLY the Genève 2008 [those are my personal bottom-tier ones, the Genève 2008 holds a very special and personal place of hatred in my heart])

I request a detailed tier list of all the Hoffmann productions you've ever seen 🥺

okay BUCKLE UP

from Best to Worst my absolutely objective ranking of all 48 productions of this opera I've seen. and I am only just now realizing what an insane number of productions I have seen of this opera.

the best

#1. 2009/2015 Metropolitan Opera production (designed & directed by Bartlet Sher my beloved) Hands-down the best. Great vibe, great atmosphere, great casts in both productions, great amounts of gay, and costumes/sets that evoke such a fantastical feel it's like we've actually fallen into some kind of creepy fantasy from ETA Hoffmann's universe! A must see for anyone who loves this opera and a great first production.

#2. 1995 La Scala. The cast is to die for, the costumes and pleasingly straightforward, the sets go smoothly from wacky to eerie at the appropriate times. But most importantly it contains hands-down the absolutely bonkers fantastic amazing GAYEST Hoffmann/Nicklausse team EVER--Neil Shicoff and Susanne Menzter. I lost my fucking mind the first time I watched this one and continue to do so every time I rewatch.

 #3. Munich 2013. Fun and wacky all over with a great cast and excellent amounts of gay. Delightful all the way. Diana Damrau positively slays as the ladies. Rest of the cast is excellent too, no complaints.

#4. Brussels 1985. Surprisingly gay for being so old. A lovely production overall and, as far as I know, the first recorded production of this opera containing the Violin Aria (so possibly the first recorded Oeser edit?) which makes it extra special.

#5. Orange 2000. Two words: Angelika Kirchschlager (okay, four words: The Hair). Production's a bit odd and it is the cursed short edit but it is quite gay and, well, Angelika Kirchschlager. Outdoor stage lends a great atmosphere to the creepy parts. Natalie Dessay reigns supreme as Olympia again.

#6. Hamburg 2021. Very fun (though fairly, and somewhat distractingly, odd at times) production with another to-die-for cast. Very gay. Brower and Bernheim quickly made it to my top 10 (possibly top 5) Hoffmann/Nicklausse pairs. Olga Peretyatko gives fantastic, wonderfully multi-faceted portrayals of all the ladies and Luca Pisaroni is iconic as the villains.

#7. Paris 2002. Not as much a fan of the production, but it makes my top 10 simply because we get Shicoff and Mentzer in these roles again, and you simply cannot beat them. you just can't.

#8. 1970 German film. The costumes and sets for this are very detailed and evocative of the story and the special effects are amazing. There’s a decent amount of added dialogue, especially at the end with the Muse’s speech, so a few story-related liberties taken, though some of them draw from the original play which is interesting. All-around good cast with another dynamic Hoffmann/Nicklausse duo (the way Hoffmann runs offstage calling Nicklausse’s name over and over at the end of the Giulietta act…oh. my. god.)

#9 Zurich 2021. A bit too dark lighting-wise at times (could give Vienna a run for its money) but another fun and eccentric production. No big names but a good cast overall and another wonderfully gay lead pair but the ending has MUCH to be desired. They straight-ified it. Makes no sense. (does not compel me.)

#10. Royal Opera House 1981/2016. A classic. Very gay despite being the abbreviated version. Luscious sets and costumes. Some unfortunate casting in the tenor role but beyond that quite good, and my first production so it’s got a special place in my heart.

the good stuff

#11. Metropolitan Opera 1988. Featuring Adorable Baby Shicoff in yet another delightfully gay performance with an extra sassy (and impeccably dressed) Nicklausse. Olympia’s phenomenal. Some odd bits but a mostly great cast and fun staging make up for it.

#12. Barcelona 2013. Phenomenal cast somewhat dampened by a strange production—does a good job emphasizing the darker parts of the opera, which is a relatively rare (so interesting) take, but a few directorial choices don’t vibe with me at all. Quite gay though and great acting/singing overall.

#13. Vienna 2000. Unfortunately this exists as a highlights-only reel with absolutely terrible image/sound quality but we get Shicoff yet again paired with an equally adorable Kirchschlager in one of the gayest performances on the planet (making their 2005 performance all the more bizarre, but more on that later).

#14. Toronto City Opera 2019. Hoffmann and Nicklausse are such a dynamic duo in this one in the most adorable way. It’s abbreviated even by Choudens standards which is obnoxious but it’s such a cute and fun production it still makes my top 20.

#15. Paris 2016. Same production as the 2002 one so that in and of itself is not my cup of tea but we get a good cast which carries it pretty well.

#16. Las Palmas (?date?) This one is about as close to full-on Oeser as anyone’s tried (except maybe the Genève 2008 one) so it’s remarkable for that. The production is equal parts campy and cool and the cast overall is very good, especially the villains and especially Dapertutto. Chemistry between Hoffmann and the ladies is pretty great. Decently gay. I need Nicklausse’s Act 1 costume immediately.

#17. Macerata 2005. A low-key production with an even mixture of fun and strange. Nicklausse is adorable and off-the-charts gay. Relatively unremarkable besides that.

#18. Orlando 2015. Why, oh why do we not have a full recording of this production?? It currently exists only as a youtube playlist with videos of some of the most important parts and it just looks SO GOOD it makes my top 20 without even having seen the entire thing.

#19. Regina Opera (NYC) 2011. Straightforward and fun and lots of ingenuity for a tiny space. Olympia and Antonia are particularly good. Hoffmann winds up in Nicklausse’s lap at the end. Nuff said.

#20. St. Petersburg (Florida) 2017. Another highlights-only reel but it looks really good and I’m mad we don’t get the rest of it. Refreshingly straightforward sets/costumes and engaging performance.

#21. 1951 film. This movie is so extra. There’s really no other way to describe it. Everyone is gay. The sets are gay. The room is gay. The air is gay. Ironically though Hoffmann and Nicklausse don’t get much gay time together. A lot of Nicklausse’s stuff is cut and I don’t like how they do the ending. The final trio in the Antonia act is fire though (pun intended—watch it and you’ll see).

#22 Miami 2017. Another highlight playlist on youtube. I like the “pour conjurer le danger” in particular. Nothing else terribly exciting though.

#23. Las Palmas 2022: WHY, IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2022, ARE WE STILL USING THE CHOUDENS EDIT FOR THIS OPERA?? At least Nicklausse is adorable and Hoffmann has good chemistry with him and the ladies (especially Antonia), but this fun and quirky production is absolutely wasted on the abbreviated edit. Come onnnnnnnn. (Especially after already attempting the Oeser one a few years back???)

decent

#24.  Skanderbeg 2005. Production doesn’t do much for me—looks like it came out of a bad sci-fi movie—and most of the acting isn’t great but it’s got a really cute Hoffmann/Nicklausse dynamic that made it worth the watch. Antonia was pretty good too.

#25.  Parma 1988. Unremarkable but pretty cute and gay.

#26. Avignon 2009. Only the Olympia act is available sadly but from little there is you can tell it’s a really fun and adorable production with good acting and signing all around.

#27. Paris 2000. Same production as the 2003/2016 one but the acting is less compelling except poor Kirchschlager who really does her best but it’s hard to sing to a wall and this Hoffmann is pretty much a wall. Nicklausse does get to slap Hoffmann though which is excellent.

#28. Royal Opera House 2000. Same production as the 1981/2016 one but the acting is overall less captivating.

#29. Beijing 2013. Unremarkable production with okay cast and annoying edit but the chemistry between Hoffmann and Nicklausse?? The Violin Aria blows it out of the park. They practically kiss at the end. It’s glorious.

#30. Buenos Aires 2019. I have a visceral reaction to this one and severe love-hate relationship with it. The edit sucks (no Violin Aria) but the cast is great. The sets are cool but the production/staging is questionable. Individual performances are good but there’s not much chemistry between anyone. And finally, despite the fact that we get next to no chemistry between Hoffmann and Nicklausse (and may I remind you NO VIOLIN ARIA) they decide to have Nicklausse and Hoffmann kiss at the end. I ranted about this for a full day once so I won’t go into any more here. But seriously. Come on.

#31. Met 1973. Super old, terrible sound/picture quality, but iconic thanks to the one, the only Dame Joan Sutherland singing all three heroines (not four, no Giulietta act in this one. It’s a really terrible edit).

questionable

#32. Genève 2008. Weird and downright unpleasant at times. Phenomenally gay but Hoffmann is a total jerk. Villains are quite good but the production takes away from pretty much everything. I’d like the heroines a lot better if it wasn’t for that awful bob cut (and Olympia’s costume…or rather lack thereof…). Giulietta somehow makes the hair work. My favorite edit so far—just wish it had a better production to go with it.

#33 Mexico City 2020. They tried, they really did, to do a Kaye edit but they tripped at the finish line. Also the production is kinda “?” Actors are pretty decent but I can’t get over Dapertutto and Giulietta kidnapping Nicklausse while Hoffmann does nothing. Matching outfits are a win but there’s not much else.

#34 Seoul 2019. Interesting production with good acting. Some really odd directorial choices. Edit is awful.

#35 Monte-Carlo 2018. I hate this one for making Juan Diego Flórez one of my favorite Hoffmanns but giving him a terrible production to work with. We get a nicely devious set of villains and Olga Peretyatko is great as the ladies (thank goodness she gets another shot in the Hamburg one four years later) but I don’t even want to talk about what they do with Nicklausse here.

#36 Lyon 1993. I was hyped for this one, I really was. Reviews kept praising it for the cast (which is great) and the fact it’s the first recording to use the Kaye edit, but…it doesn’t really? The edit is practically unrecognizable; aside from some parts of the orchestration I really couldn’t tell you which edit it was using. The production itself is…wild. Disturbing almost. I have no idea what’s going on, it’s almost like some kind of fever dream.

meh

#37. Moscow 2019. Unremarkable to the point of being forgettable. Odd and not compelling. Stop using Choudens people.

#38. Nagoya 2010. Okay production. Odd at points but Hoffmann is really cute and I do like the Antonia quite a bit.

#39. Hagan 2020. I don’t even know what this is supposed to be. I don’t think the director did either.

awful

#40. Berlin 2015. Edit is atrocious and production is equally bad. Nicklausse is pretty good and some of the Hoffmanns are decent (because, yes, there are multiple performers playing Hoffmann) but it’s just…I don’t even know.

#41. Dutch National Opera 2018. Do you know how much I’d give to see (most of) this cast in a Hoffmann production? One that’s not this one because it’s awful? They try to modernize it but it just doesn’t work at all and they make Nicklausse a girl for the entire show and just. Wow. No thank you. John Osborne and Erwin Schrott deserve so much better.

#42. Madrid 2014. I couldn’t begin to tell you what they are trying to do in this one. Another terrible interpretation of Nicklausse and the rest of the characters don’t seem to know what they are doing. I don’t think anyone working on the show did.

#43. Brussels 2019. You could barely even call this Les contes d’Hoffmann because of all the ridiculous stuff they add to make it something it really is not. The production is just plain confusing. Is it the opera? Is it a movie? Is it them trying to film the movie? There’s no consistent reality. They throw the gay out the window here too with another girl Nicklausse. And Hoffmann is quite a piece of work himself.

#44. Salzburg 2005. Another monstrosity that attempts to un-gay the opera and totally demolishes the Hoffmann/Nicklausse dynamic. I can’t believe this is actually McVicar. Why would a gay opera director decide to direct one of the gayest operas ever only to mutilate it to this extent.

#45. Antwerp 2000. Same production as above so same level of terribleness.

#46. Klostenberg 2019. What. Just what. I can’t even.

#47. Bregenzer Festspiele 2015. I’m convinced everyone working on this was high on shrooms while they made it because I can’t think of any other explanation for how bizarre it is.

#48. Mexico City 1987. Didn’t even watch this one because Nicklausse is a tenor which is an unforgiveable sin.

and there you have it! Now I just need to watch two more to make it an even 50!

thank you for letting me rant about this opera yet again:) I never get tired of it!

[chansondefortunio]

FROM MY SOLITUDE FROM THE WORLD OF OPERA TUMBLR I COME BACK TO ANNOUNCE THAT I HATE WAGNER EVEN MORE THAN I REALIZED

I am so sorry. I truly do not want to hate his music. I wish I could be cool and intellectual and progressive like y'all but the universe does not allow me that pleasure.

explanation to come soon (with visual aids) to prove my involuntary anti-wagner disposition

[spacelazarwolf]

in honor of that anon who said jews have done nothing for the world, here’s a non exhaustive list of things we’ve done for the world:

arts, fashion, and lifestyle:

jeans - levi strauss

modern bras - ida rosenthal

sewing machines - isaac merritt singer

modern film industry - carl laemmle (universal pictures), adolph zukor (paramount pictures), william fox (fox film forporation), louis b. mayer (mgm - metro-goldwyn-mayer), harry, sam, albert, and jack warners (warner bros.), steven spielberg, mel brooks, marx brothers

operetta - jacques offenbach

comic books - stan lee

graphic novels - will eisner

teddy bears - morris and rose michtom

influential musicians - irving berlin, stephen sondheim, benny goodman, george gershwin, paul simon, itzhak perlman, leonard bernstein, bob dylan, leonard cohen

artists - mark rothko

actors - elizabeth taylor, jerry lewis, barbara streisand

comedians - lenny bruce, joan rivers, jerry seinfeld

authors - judy blume, tony kushner, allen ginsberg, walter mosley

culture:

esperanto - ludwik lazar zamenhof

feminism - betty friedan, gloria steinem, ruth bader ginsberg

queer and trans rights - larry kramer, harvey milk, leslie feinberg, abby stein, kate bornstein, frank kameny, judith butler

international women's day - clara zetkin

principles of journalizm, statue of liberty, and pulitzer prize - joseph pulitzer

"the new colossus" - emma lazarus

universal declaration of human rights - rene samuel cassin

holocaust remembrance and human rights activism - elie wiesel

workers rights - louis brandeis, rose schneiderman

public health care, women's rights, and children's rights - lillian wald

racial equity - rabbi abraham joshua heschel, julius rosenwald, andrew goodman, michael schwerner

political theory - hannah arendt

disability rights - judith heumann

black lives matter slogan and movement - alicia garza

#metoo movement - jodi kantor

institute of sexology - magnus hirschfeld

technology:

word processing computers - evelyn berezin

facebook - mark zuckerberg

console video game system - ralph henry baer

cell phones - amos edward joel jr., martin cooper

3d - leonard lipton

telephone - philipp reis

fax machines - arthur korn

microphone - emile berliner

gramophone - emile berliner

television - boris rosing

barcodes - norman joseph woodland and bernard silver

secret communication system, which is the foundation of the technology used for wifi - hedy lamarr

three laws of robotics - isaac asimov

cybernetics - norbert wiener

helicopters - emile berliner

BASIC (programming language) - john george kemeny

google - sergey mikhaylovich brin and larry page

VCR - jerome lemelson

fax machine - jerome lemelson

telegraph - samuel finley breese morse

morse code - samuel finley breese morse

bulletproof glass - edouard benedictus

electric motor and electroplating - boris semyonovich jacobi

nuclear powered submarine - hyman george rickover

the internet - paul baran

icq instant messenger - arik vardi, yair goldfinger,, sefi vigiser, amnon amir

color photography - leopold godowsky and leopold mannes

world's first computer - herman goldstine

modern computer architecture - john von neumann

bittorrent - bram cohen

voip internet telephony - alon cohen

data archiving - phil katz, eugene roshal, abraham lempel, jacob ziv

nemeth code - abraham nemeth

holography - dennis gabor

laser - theodor maiman

instant photo sharing online - philippe kahn

first automobile - siegfried samuel marcus

electrical maglev road - boris petrovich weinberg

drip irrigation - simcha blass

ballpoint pen and automatic gearbox - laszlo biro

photo booth - anatol marco josepho

medicine:

pacemakers and defibrillators - louise robinovitch

defibrillators - bernard lown

anti-plague and anti-cholera vaccines - vladimir aronovich khavkin

polio vaccine - jonas salk

test for diagnosis of syphilis - august paul von wasserman

test for typhoid fever - ferdinand widal

penicillin - ernst boris chain

pregnancy test - barnhard zondek

antiretroviral drug to treat aids and fight rejection in organ transplants - gertrude elion

discovery of hepatitis c virus - harvey alter

chemotherapy - paul ehrlich

discovery of prions - stanley prusiner

psychoanalysis - sigmund freud

rubber condoms - julius fromm

birth control pill - gregory goodwin pincus

asorbic acid (vitamin c) - tadeusz reichstein

blood groups and rh blood factor - karl landsteiner

acyclovir (treatment for infections caused by herpes virus) - gertrude elion

vitamins - caismir funk

technique for measuring blood insulin levils - rosalyn sussman yalow

antigen for hepatitus - baruch samuel blumberg

a bone fusion technique - gavriil abramovich ilizarov

homeopathy - christian friedrich samuel hahnemann

aspirin - arthur ernst eichengrun

science:

theory of relativity - albert einstein

theory of the electromagnetic field - james maxwell

quantum mechanics - max born, gustav ludwig hertz

quantum theory of gravity - matvei bronstein

microbiology - ferdinand julius cohn

neuropsychology - alexander romanovich luria

counters for x-rays and gamma rays - robert hofstadter

genetic engineering - paul berg

discovery of the antiproton - emilio gino segre

discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation - arno allan penzias

discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe - adam riess and saul merlmutter

discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity - roger penrose

discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of the milky way - andrea ghez

modern cosmology and the big bang theory - alexander alexandrovich friedmann

stainless steel - hans goldschmidt

gas powered vehicles

interferometer - albert abraham michelson

discovery of the source of energy production in stars - hans albrecht bethe

proved poincare conjecture - grigori yakovlevich perelman

biochemistry - otto fritz meyerhof

electron-positron collider - bruno touschek

[oreganosbaby]

the tea is.... galop>waltz. sorry hoes.

[flagbridge]

Reblogging because we stan Jewish themes in POTO fics. My longfic Erik isn't Jewish--he's not specifically religious at all--but Judaism is a big theme in the story. Erik encounters and appreciates the Jewish approach to repentance, repair, teshuvah, etc.

Incorporating Judaism into a POTO fic is very historically relevant as the Victoire synagogue was built around the same time as the Garnier and is steps away from it. POTO takes place during a very brief golden age period after Jews were able to resettle in Paris, but before the Dreyfus affair. Finally, three of the biggest Opera composers of the 19th Century (who get shoutouts in either or both the book and ALW musical): Meyerbeer, Henlevy, and Offenbach were all Jewish. Honorable mention to Bizet who was baptized Catholic but had Jewish descent and incorporated Jewish-influenced music into Carmen. Shameless fic plug: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49217926/chapters/124190224

i have got to write some fic about jewish!erik. with a self-insert. maybe set during the dreyfus affair because ive been turning over that idea as a fic setting for a while. (at first my idea was to write a self-insert who is jewish but erik isnt, and he instinctively sides with the dreyfusards because he knows what its like to be othered and treated like subhuman. but in a fic where hes jewish it would be more like, he isnt surprised at all by the rising antisemitism in france and is very cynical about it, because hes been mistreated both for his deformity and for being jewish his whole life. but Also he feels alienated from his own community because of his deformity, so he has a complicated relationship with judaism too, and so does the self-insert but for different reasons, and its all very indulgent but its MY fanfic and i get to choose the tropes.)

[voi-gay-sapete]

listen man!!! im super fucking sad and barely functioning today and yet when i watch the first tableau duet i still!!!! am filled with light and happiness!!!! thanks offenbach for this one good thing!!!

[ddumplingsmusic]

give iida the aux cord, you cowards - playlist by ddumpling (xxx)

now i just KNOW y’all be clowning on poor Iida because he’d listen to classical music in the car so here are some pieces that go hard as FUCK

Summer in G minor (from The Four Seasons): III. Presto - Antonio Vivaldi

Winter in F minor (from The Four Seasons): I. Allegro non molto - Antonio Vivaldi

Can Can (from Orpheus in the Underworld) - Jacques Offenbach

Souvenir de Florence: I. Allegro con spirito - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 

Suite No. 2 in F Major: IV. Fantasia on the Dargason - Gustav Holst

Concerto for Strings in G Major, “Alla rustica”: III. Presto - Antonio Vivaldi

Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin

Hungarian Dance No. 5, Johannes Brahms

Jazz Suite No. 2: IV. Waltz I - Dmitri Shostakovich

Die Walkure, Act III: Ride of the Valkyries - Richard Wagner

William Tell Overture - Gioachino Rossini

Carnival Overture, Op. 92 - Antonin Dvorak

Radetzky March - Johann Strauss I

Suite No. 1 in E-Flat Major: III. March - Gustav Holst

Bacchanale - Camille Saint-Saens

Die Fledermaus: Overture - Johann Strauss II

i am completely joking when i say this: the amount of slander put on his name because of his taste in music? far too much. there isn’t anything wrong with classical music, y’all are just mean

but in all seriousness, i don’t quite understand why classical music garnered the reputation of being boring or uppity. actually... maybe i do understand... 

REGARDLESS, there are some really cool hidden gems on the classical music scene and i feel like iida would be able to pick up on the bits that make classical music cool! he kind of gives off the vibe of genuinely listening to and analyzing the aspects of a piece of music that makes it really wonderful to listen to. i honestly can’t put my finger on a genre of music that he would listen to other than classical music; i am willing to bet there is probably a good chunk of iida stans/simps who have a better handle on his personality than me and would be able to answer this question of mine haha!

anyway, that’s just my perception of him haha. Whether you like his music taste or not, hope you enjoy some of these pieces that i consider bangers!!

[chansondefortunio]

Les contes d'Hoffmann fantasy cast!!!!

Aside from the absolutely perfect line-up we got on the 1988 recording...

god i would LOVE to hear a recording of Hoffmann with "la troupe de l'opera de Paris" . My heart would explode. here r what id want for the main characters

- Jean Mollien as Hoffman, particularly in his late 50s/early 60's voice era because he has the inherent voice of a tortured man

- Genevieve Moizan as the big 3 (+stella) because shes so cute and she has range

- Nicholas Agrov as the other big 3 (+lindit chocolate) because his voice is so amazingly deep and RICH

- Jean Hoffmann as the three gremlin things because he's the only person who could make me not hate those roles

- get Lucien Mans and Jacques Linoslas somewhere in there.

- for Nicklausse im gonna jump ahead to the 80s and have Ghislaine Raphanel. she might be a soprano but i literally do not have ears i cannot tell

this took a lot of research and side tracking. crying.

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK !!!

[chansondefortunio]

Top 05: Opera Couples?

omg. I am embarrassingly late to this ask! sorry about that...

5. Gonsalve and the clock, Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole

No context!

4. Helene and Paris, Offenbach's La Belle Helene

i am exclusively referring to the relationship displayed in this operetta and not in the original myth.

Paris got himself a hot older woman... i support it

3. Hoffmann and Nicklausse, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann

i just think theyre CUTE together! and the symbolic interpretation is cool too ! artist and the muse

2. Francesca and Lazaro, Bachelet's Scemo.

i support Francesca cheating on Giovann no I will not elaborate (unless someone asks me to)

1. Fanny and Jean, Massenet's Sapho

THEY ARE TOXIC! they are BAD FOR EACHOTHER!

Jean can't let go of the past... Fanny wants to run away from it...

but there is something very beautiful and naive about their relationship... the best part about this couple is that Fanny knew that it was best to end it.

thanks so much for the ask :)

[chansondefortunio]

HELPFUL VENN DIAGRAM

:/ idk guys this seems like solid scientific data explaining why Saint-Saëns and Wagner r annoying

[chansondefortunio]

What is it with italian operas and exposition

like i get so hyped to start a new opera and then the chorus huddles around a secondary character and we get 15 minutes of context.

[chansondefortunio]

my opinion on opera recordings (1.)

Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers

┕━━━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━━━┙

Réné Leibowitz with the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra

Violette JOURNEAUX (L'Opinion Publique)

Claudine COLLART (Eurydice)

Jean MOLLIEN (Orphée)

André DRAN (Aristée/Pluton)

Simone PEBORDES (Cupidon)

Monique CHALOT (Venus)

Janine LINDENFELDER (Diane)

Bernard DEMIGNY (Jupiter)

Luciens MANS (Mars)

André JONQUERES (Mercure/Morphée)

Anne Marie CARPENTIER (Junon/Minerve)

Jean HOFFMANN (Jon Styx)

1951

★★★★★★★★★⭐︎⭐︎ 8/10

This is the first in Leibowitz's (awesome) series of recordings of Offenbach's most famous Operettas, and the second opera I ever listened to. At least willingly... It's one of Offenbach's earlier works, filled with more meaningless farce compared to his later operettas (that still manage to be quite substantial despite the genre). I mean, most story lines lead nowhere aside from a few jokes and none of the characters are really fleshed out. However, the music is bombastic enough to make me ignore all that. After not listening to Offenbach for a while, going back to this made me realize how energetic his music is compared to other composers. It got my adrenaline going wild!!. What can i say, its early Offenbach!! Orphée aux Enfers is not literary or comedy genius, but it's fun anyways.

This cast suits the opera perfectly, nailing the range of characters and the comedic timing without fail. You can trust the french to do their own comedy well. Even just the dialogue sweeps me up with it's smooth frenchie rhythm. Most of it is cut though, so we were robbed!

Dialogue highlights:

- Claudine Collart delivering this line probably exactly as Offenbach intended: "Je quitte la maison Parce que je suis morte. Aristée est Pluton, Et le diable m’emporte." .btw. I want that on my tombstone? . - Jean Mollien saying this line: "Je ne lui conseille pas de folâtrer dans les blés que voilà, comme il le fait depuis qu’il est venu, je ne sais d’où, s’établir dans mon voisinage" in a SINGLE breath!! im not JOKING!!! wtf?!!!

This recording was where I had my first impression of Jean Mollien's voice. I very distinctly remember that one of my first thoughts was; "oh, he should definitely be in a more dramatic opera". This is not to say that he doesn't fit the role! Jean Mollien has nice control over his voice when it comes to characters. Here, as Orphée, he makes his voice nasally and stiff. And he reuses this same voice in characters like Achilles (La Belle Hélène) and Guillot de Morfontaine (Manon). I call it the the "disagreeable man" because that's all it really is. A little pathetic, a little annoying, and seemingly always upset about something... I would say his interpretation here is pretty tame (especially compared to the absolute AMOUNT Collart is giving in their dialogue) and he also sounds like he's trying to speedrun Orphée any% gitchless. In any case, although he isn't really outstanding, Jean Mollien a perfectly enjoyable Orphée.

Claudine Collart is pretty much perfect as Eurydice! She has the comedy, the melodrama, the coquetter-ry... everything is on HIGH in the best way possible. She's bringing everything to make this character super fun and I'm sure Offenbach would be satisfied with her performance. "J'ai vu le dieu Bacchus" and her fly duet with Bernard Demingny's are some of my favorite parts of this recording. All the absurdity of the story and the charm of Offenbach's music can be found there. Collart and Demingny do a wonderful job, especially with the buzzing. I've heard other versions where the buzzing falls flat, or doesn't sound fly-like at all! Which is understandable. I can't imagine they teach you projection for optimal buzzing in music school.

Speaking of which, Bernard Demingny is absolutely great as Jupiter!!!! He's a hilariously flawed character of course, superficial and sleazy and very not self-aware, but Demigny gives him a little sass and relatablility which really makes it fun to follow his character through the story. He has so much energy and character, absolutely nailing every scene without overpowering the other interpreters. The dialogue with the Gods in the second part of act 1 is just a hilarious mix of perfect executions and (the so often neglected!!) reactions to one another, and because Jupiter is at the center of the dialogue I feel a lot of that chemistry depends on him. Instantly they communicate this sense of being this bored and dysfunctional family who just so happen to be gods. Demingny is, at the end of the day, a very strong force in this recording.

André Dran's Pluton has all the superficial sweetness of a Disney princess and the nerve of a spoiled teenager. That youth really comes out in his dialogue with Jupiter. it's an interpretation I haven't really heard before, but it sure makes this opera feel more like a dysfunctional family comedy. Not sure about how this aligns with the real mythology... But above all, he's very charming!

Finally, I'd like to say that Jean Hoffmann is O.K. as Jon Styx. I would never find enjoyment from this character, god forbid any comedy. But that's because I generally dislike those thin, absolutely flaccid comic tenor roles that seem to always reappear in Offenbach's operas (see: my anger with "jour et nuit" from Hoffmann). Jon Styx and similar roles are very one note and almost purely exist as pathetic men for the audience to ridicule. :/ . Jon Styx is handled here by Hoffmann with enough grace, just enough to stop me from skipping his aria during a casual listen.

⊱ ────── Final thoughts.────── ⊰

I cannot oversell how much listening to this recording feels like this:

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if you like:

Offenbach, Operetta/Opera Bouffe, the 1997 Opéra National de Lyon production (<3)

then this recording will be enjoyable 4 you!! (probably)

═══════════════════════

[chansondefortunio]

can somebody

can somebody please explain why ppl have time for 35 hour long Wagner operas but not like, and extra hour for an actually good edition of Les Contes d'Hoffmann

am i just dumb?

[chansondefortunio]

FUCK I MISSED OFFENBACHS BIRTHDAY

i did in fact think it was today im about to blow my head off.

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY OFFENBACH!!! Here's some rareish Offenbach music you should check out!!

This next one is a real gem!

We can't forget his ouvertures, waltzes and marches

**Attention**

if you're gonna listen to Les Contes d'Hoffmann, it better be this one

ok ok thats it

Happy birthday Jacques Offenbach, you've changed my life for better or for worse and I'm eternally grateful. Rest in Peace ❊

[chansondefortunio]

a Scientific study figure 2

Another indisputable piece of proof of why you too should stan Offenbach!!!

btw if ur not listening to Mussorgsky's The Marriage then you should really do that because it's lovely

(my recommendation is obviously the 1952 Nicolas Agroff / Jean Mollien / Charlotte Demazures / Alexander Popovitsky one. Jean Mollien can't speak Russian for the life of him, and I [with russian as a semi first language] don't understand 75% of it ITS THE BEST)

[chansondefortunio]

tbh i feel like if i was living in the 1870s my music taste would be seen as basic.