Behind the scenes of the Lyric: Impressive photos and videos from the rehearsals of “Hoffman’s Tales”

Jacques Offenbach’s masterpiece “The Tales of Hoffmann” will be presented for eight performances, from December 18 to January 8, in the Stavros Niarchos Hall at the SNFCC, under the musical direction of Loukas Karytinos.

This is the new long-awaited co-production of the National Opera with the Opéra La Monnaie of Brussels, under the intelligent direction of the leading European director of opera and theater Krzysztof Warlikowski, who undertakes to reveal the essence of a work where place and time are the remains of a damaged mosaic.

The case

Jacques Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann is one of the most popular French operas, along with Carmen, Faust and Manon. It is a dramatic opera full of wonderful melodies, including the famous “barcarola”.

In Fairy Tales, Offenbach does not forget either his witty or playful side, while, as in his other works, he is outrageously melodic and full of endless inspiration. In this work, the composer juxtaposes the happy mood of the poet Hoffmann with that crack that shows that the character of the poet is not only what it seems at first sight. And despite the fact that the composer always prioritizes the melody, yet his harmonic writing seems to accurately delineate the characters and situations.

Jules Barbier’s libretto is based on stories by the multi-talented German writer and composer E.T.A. Hoffmann, whom Barbier has turned into an opera star.

Three female figures, the lifeless doll Olympia, the seriously ill singer Antonia, and the courtesan Juliet, each possess some of the elements that make up the prima donna Stella, the woman with whom Hoffmann is in love. The love he feels for each is dynamitized each time by a mature man, three different personalities, Coppelius, Dr. Miracle and Dappertutto, whose characteristics are brought together by the wealthy Lindorff, with whom Stella leaves at the end of the opera, leaving Hoffman In desperation.

The Tales of Hoffmann is Jacques Offenbach’s last opera, which the composer was unable to complete before his death in 1880. The work, completed by composer Ernest Giraud, was a huge success at its world premiere in February 1881 in Opera Comique de Paris. From the work’s first performance in the late 19th century until 2010, when material thought to be damaged was discovered in the archives of the Opéra Comique, painstaking and lengthy restoration work was carried out on the score, sometimes to set additional dialogues to music, sometimes to add new parts to the project, even to change the order of the project’s actions. As far as the play’s epilogue is concerned, since only drafts and thoughts survive from Offenbach, in essence each lyric theater decides the finale of the play, based on one of many different versions.

ELLS presents the opera in its most recent critical edition by Michael Kay and Jean-Christophe Keck, where the Prologue and Epilogue appear as acts and thus the play has a five-act form.

The final form of the work was shaped in preparation for the 2019 production in Brussels by Krzysztof Warlikowski and conductor of the La Monnaie presentation Alain Altinoglu.

The multi-award winning Krzysztof Warlikowski, who signs the directing of production, he is one of the most sought-after European directors. Along with his career in the theater, where he has signed iconic performances based on works by Shakespeare, ancient Greek tragedies, but also modern writers such as Sarah Kane, Warlikowski has also been recognized as one of the most important innovators of opera direction. The productions he has signed at the leading opera houses in Europe – Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie in Brussels, Real Madrid, Bavarian Opera in Munich, Royal Opera in London, but also in the leading festivals of Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg – are recognized by audiences and critics as great artistic events, due to his systematic research on the idea of ​​re-theatricalization of opera.

In The Tales of Hoffmann, Warlikowski’s direction is drawn to the fact that Offenbach’s work has a particularly complex narrative, as well as the realization that scores and librettos do not have a fixed structure. These elements give the director as well as the viewer the feeling that the play is open to new interpretations and redefinition. Warlikowski, developing his own directorial identity, sees the history of opera through the lens of the seventh art, with influences from such cinematic works as A Star Is Born, The Shining and Inland Empire. The emancipation of an enigmatic and complex woman, the frustrations of a director in crisis, his dependencies, his subjective delusions, everything lends itself to a metatextual exploration of the mysterious dialogue between the story and the narrator, the artist and his work.

The sets and costumes of the production are signed by Varlikowski’s permanent collaborator Malgorzata Szczesniak, who creates a unique cinematic universe. The choreography is by Claude Barduy, the lighting by Felice Ross and the video by Denis Guguen. Christian Lonchan signs the dramaturgy.

The acclaimed chief musician and artistic director of the Athens State Orchestra, Loukas Karytinos, conducts. The ELLS Choir is directed by Agathangelos Georgakatos.

In the new production of Fairy Tales, the audience will have the opportunity to see and hear excellent singers of international renown from Greece and abroad.

Adam Smith, one of Britain’s most sought-after up-and-coming tenors, will perform the title role in the first installment. He made his debut in the role of Hoffmann at the Opera of Bordeaux, while he has appeared with great success at the English National Opera, the Glidebourne Festival, the BBC Proms, the operas of Brussels, Antwerp, Seattle, etc.

In the second distribution, the title role will be performed by the distinguished ELS tenor Yiannis Christopoulos.

Dramatic coloratura soprano Nicole Chevalier, who will perform Stella, Olympia, Antonia and Juliet in the first cast, has been awarded for her performance of Hoffmann’s four female roles with the 2016 Der Faust German Prize, for the Berlin Commissar’s Opera production , of which he was a member for five years. In the summer of 2019, her performance in Mozart’s Idomeneus at the Salzburg Festival, directed by Peter Sellars and conducted by Theodoros Kourentzis, earned her worldwide acclaim. Since then, he has been singing in the leading European theatres, such as the Royal Opera House in London, La Monnaie in Brussels – where he performed the four roles in Hoffmann in the premiere of the Warlikowski production in 2019 –, Vienna, Hamburg, etc.

The four female roles of the play will be interpreted in the second distribution by the internationally acclaimed ELLS soprano Vasiliki Karagianni.

The middle voices Mary-Ellen Nezi and Marisia Papalexiou will interpret the roles of Musa and Niklaus. The bass players Tasos Apostolou and Petros Magoulas will perform Lindorff, Koppelius, Miracle and Dapertutto. Bassist Christoforos Stamboglis and basso-baritone Yiannis Giannisis will perform the roles of Krespel and Luther.

With them are the members of the ELS Margarita Sygeniotou, Anna Tselika, Dionysis Melogiannidis, Andreas Karaoulis, George Matthaiakakis, George Papadimitriou, Christos Kehris, Yiannis Kalivas, Panagiotis Priftis, Nikos Katsigiannis, Marinos Tarnanas and Christos Rammopoulos.
Opera • New productionThe Tales of Hoffmann

Jacques Offenbach

18, 20, 22, 28, 29 December 2022 & 4, 5, 8 January 2023

Start time: 19.30 (Sunday: 18.30)

Stavros Niarchos Hall of the National Opera – SNFCC

Co-production with La Monnaie in Brussels

Music director: Loukas Karytinos

Directed by: Krzysztof Warlikowski

Dramaturgy: Christian Lonchan

Sets, costumes: Malgorzata Szczesniak

Choreography: Claude Barduig

Lighting: Felix Ross

Video: Danny Gegen

Choir director: Agathangelos Georgakatos

Stella – Olympia – Antonia – Julietta: Nicole Chevalier (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Vasiliki Karagiannis (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Moussa – Niklaus: Mary-Ellen Nezi (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Marisia Papalexiou (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Voice from the grave: Margarita Sygeniotou (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Anna Tselika (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Hoffman: Adam Smith (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Giannis Christopoulos (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Lindorf – Koppelius – Miracle – Dapertoutto: Tasos Apostolou (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Petros Magoulas (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Spalantsani – Nathanael: Dionysis Melogiannidis (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Andreas Karaoulis (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Krespel – Lutheros: Christoforos Stamboglis (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Giannis Giannisis (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Herman – Slemil: Giorgos Matthaiakakis (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Giorgos Papadimitriou (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Andres – Cochenil – Franz – Pitikinatso: Christos Kehris (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Yiannis Kalivas (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Wolfram: Panagiotis Priftis (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Nikos Katsigiannis (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

Wilhelm: Marinos Tarnanas (18, 22, 29/12/2022 & 4/1/2023), Christos Rammopoulos (20, 28/12/2022 & 5, 8/1/2023)

With the ELS Orchestra and Choir

Tickets: €15, €20, €35, €40, €50, €55, €65, €90 | Student, child: €15 | Limited visibility: €10

Pre-sale: ELS Funds (2130885700, daily 9.00-21.00) & www.ticketservices.gr

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