“The Tales of Hoffmann”

“Could there be a more lovely tribute to the one who invented fantastic realism in literature than to make him the main character of an opera in which plausibility is banished and the imagination sets its own rules? In Offenbach’s work, Hoffman is depicted as a cursed poet and composer, recalling his memories of love, and taking us to a universe where the lines between dream and reality are blurred. The producer, Robert Carsen, masterfully creates a drama within a drama, and unveils the opera’s backstage through a spectacular process of mise en abyme.”