AT THE OPERA
Myths, legends and fantasy, Part 1
Prepared and presented by Ian MacDonald

Offenbach, J. The tales of Hoffmann. Opera in three acts with prologue and epilogue. Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, after stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann. First performed Paris, 1881.   

Offenbach, J. The tales of Hoffmann, Prologue   
[24:50]

Offenbach, J. The tales of Hoffmann, Act I   
[36:42]

Offenbach, J. The tales of Hoffmann, Act II   
[26:46]

Offenbach, J. The tales of Hoffmann, Act III   
[40:09]

Offenbach, J. The tales of Hoffmann, Epilogue   
[13:57]

   NICKLAUSSE/THE MUSE: Huguette Tourangeau, mezz
HOFFMANN: Plácido Domingo, ten
STELLA, OLYMPIA, GIULIETTA, ANTONIA: Joan Sutherland, sop
LINDORF, COPPELIUS, DAPERTUTTO, DR MIRACLE: Gabriel Bacquier, bar
Radio Suisse Romande Ch; Choir of Pro Arte Lausanne; Chorale du Brassus; Suisse Romande O/Richard Bonynge.Total Time: 2:22:11
Decca 417 363-2

   Drinking in a tavern with Nicklausse, the poet Hoffmann receives a letter from his love, Stella, a prima donna. His enemy, Lindorf, asks him to tell the story of his three love affairs. First, Hoffmann loves Olympia, a mechanical doll. He believes she is real until she is broken by Coppelius. Then he loves Antonia, forbidden to sing at the risk of death. Urged on by the evil Dr Miracle, she sings for Hoffmann and dies in his arms. Finally, he loves Giulietta, a Venetian courtesan. When he kills her lover in a duel, Giulietta leaves with Dapertutto. The three women in these stories are really just different aspects of Stella so, when she finally appears, she finds that Hoffmann is drunk and she leaves him for Lindorf. Nicklausse, who has witnessed these affairs, becomes his muse and urges him to use his suffering to write great literature.

Meyerbeer, G. O beau pays de la Touraine, from The Huguenots (1836).    Joan Sutherland, sop; Royal Opera House Ch & O/Francesco Molinari-Pradelli.
Decca 414 450-2 [05:40]

Gounod, C. O Dieu, que de bijoux ... Ah! je ris de me voir, from Faust (1859); Je veux vivre, from Romeo and Juliet (1867).    Joan Sutherland, sop; Royal Opera House Ch & O/Francesco Molinari-Pradelli.
Decca 414 450-2 [08:08]

Offenbach, J. Barcarolle, from The Tales of Hoffmann    Geoffrey Saba, piano
CarnegieConcerts CC012 [07:47]

23:00 MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
Prepared by Paul Cooke
With Nena Beretin

Rangström, T. Notturno nella maniera di E.T.A. Hoffmann.    Uppsala Chamber Soloists.
LCM C 115 [12:44]

Osborne, N. Albanian nights.    Lisa Beznosiuk, fl; Neil McLaren, fl; Paul Goodwin, ob; Catherine Latham, ob; Nicholas Bucknall, cl; Timothy Lines, cl; Andrew Watts, bn; Frances Eustace, bn; Roger Montgomery, hn; Robert Maskell, hn; Antony Pay, cond.
EMI CDC 7 54424 2 [10:23]

Suchon, E. Metamorphosis (1953).    Slovak PO/Zdenék Kosler.
Marco Polo 8.223130 [31:54]