An impossible quest for love, with the great voices of J. Osborn, E. Jaho and A. Vinogradov 

Offenbach conjures up a world governed by rules of its own in which he places Hoffmann, a poet and composer under a curse. Hoffmann recalls his past love affairs and guides us through a universe where dreams and reality intertwine.

This opera about the misfortunes of Hoffmann, whose obsession is to triumph in love, was left unfinished by Offenbach on his death in 1880. It narrates the painful tales of his relationships with three women: the cold doll Olympia, the fragile and innocent Antonia, and Giulietta, the heartless courtesan.

Laurent Pelly has made this exquisite yet sinister production especially for the Gran Teatre del Liceu. The gloomy tale itself and its magical reverse side reflect the two facets of Romanticism, while the superb setting created by Pelly illustrates the poet's torment and the frustration aroused by his nemesis.  When the tales are over, Hoffmann longs for forgetfulness and ultimately finds consolation in his creative genius. As Louise Bourgeois, the genetrix of feminist art, reminded us: “Art is a guarantee of sanity”. A way, in other words, of curing the individual and the world.

With the support of:

The tales of Hoffmann

OPERA COMPRISING A PROLOGUE, THREE ACTS AND AN EPILOGUE  
Libretto by Jules Barbier based on three tales by E.T.A. Hoffmann.
World premiere: 10/02/1881 at the Opéra Comique in Paris.
First Barcelona performance: 22/04/1905 at the Teatre Eldorado (in Spanish).
First Liceu performance: 05/02/1924. 
Last Liceu performance: 23/02/2013.
Total number of Liceu performances: 25.

Artistic profile

Conductor

Riccardo Frizza

Stage director

Laurent Pelly

Revival Director

Christian Räth

Dialogues and Libretto Version

Agathe Mélinand

Set Design

Chantal Thomas

Costume Design

Laurent Pelly in association with Jean-Jacques Delmotte

Lighting Design

Joël Adam

Video Design

Charles Carcopino

Stage Director Assistant

Albert Estany

Production

Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra National de Lyon, San Francisco Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin

Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Liceu Opera Barcelona

Director of the Chorus

Conxita Garcia

Concertino

Kostadin Bogdanoski

Musical Direction Assistant

Sergi Cuenca

Musical Assistants

Véronique Werklé, Vanessa García, David-Huy Nguyen-Phong and Jaume Tribó

Cast

Stella	Elena Sancho Pereg	18th,19th,25th,28th,31th January
	Adriana González	20th,21th,26th,30th January and 1th February
Olympia	Olga Pudova	18th,19th,20th,21th,25th,28th,31th January
	Rocío Pérez	26th,30th January and 1th February
Antonia	Ermonela Jaho
Giulietta	Ginger Costa-Jackson	18th,19th,21th,26th,31th January
	Nino Surguladze	20th,25th,28th,30th January and 1th February
The muse / Nicklausse	Marina Viotti	18th,20th,21th,25th,26th,28th,30th January and 1th February
	Carol García	19th,31th January
Voice of Antonia's mother	Laura Vila
Hoffmann	John Osborn	18th,20th,25th,28th,31th January
	Arturo Chacón-Cruz	19th,21th,26th,30th January and 1th February
Lindorf / Coppélius / Doctor Miracle / Captain Dapertutto	Alexander Vinogradov	18th,20th,25th,28th,31th January
	Roberto Tagliavini	19th,21th,26th,30th January and 1th February
Spalanzani	Francisco Vas
Crespel / Luther	Aleksey Bogdanov
Peter Schlémil / Hermann	Carlos Daza
Andrès / Cochenille / Frantz/ Pitichianaccio	Vincent Ordonneau
Nathanaël	Roger Padullés

Adriana González

Elena Sancho Pereg

Ermonela Jaho

Marina Viotti

Laura Vila

John Osborn

Arturo Chacón-Cruz

Francisco Vas

Carlos Daza

Change

• Maestro Riccardo Frizza conducts the performances of The tales of Hoffmann replacing Jorge de Souza, who cancelled due to personal reasons. 
• Mezzo Carol García sings the role of muse/Nicklausse replacing Stéphanie d’Oustrac, who cancelled due to health reasons.
• Due to the preventive isolation of Soprano Adriana González, Elena Sancho Pereg joins the cast, who will sing the opening night and will perform a total of 5 performances (January 18, 19, 25, 28 and 31). Once the 10 days of isolation have been surpassed, González will rejoin singing her first performance on January 20 and will continue on January 21, 26, 30 and February 1.