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PROLOGUE: In Luther's deserted tavern,
a chorus of spirits of wine and beer is heard, while inside the
adjoining opera house Don Giovanni is being performed. Guests are
expected to arrive later in the evening, among them the poet
Hoffmann and the Milanese opera singer Stella, but it is
Hoffmann's Muse who first appears. Knowing that fate decrees
Hoffmann must choose this evening between his love for the Muse
and his love for her rival, Stella, the Muse calls upon the
spirits for help. Then she disappears to assume the guise of
Nicklausse, Hoffmann's friend. Councilor Lindorf bribes Andrčs, a
servant of Stella, to intercept a note she has written to
Hoffmann; it contains the key to her dressing room. Lindorf,
confident of his power to achieve any goal, plans to keep that
appointment himself. A crowd of noisy students fills the tavern.
Hoffmann appears, accompanied by Nicklausse, and Lindorf spies
them at a distance. Hoffmann is troubled; the students urge him to
drink and sing, and he responds by starting the ballad of a
grotesque dwarf named Kleinzach, only to digress into
recollections of love. The punchbowl is lit, but the cheerful mood
is broken by Lindorf, who goads Hoffmann into an exchange of
sarcastic insults. Nicklausse finally interrupts, breaking the
tension, yet the encounter leaves Hoffmann with a sense of
foreboding. When the students tease him about his current
infatuation with Stella, he offers to tell the story of three past
loves....
ACT I: Awaiting the arrival of his party guests,
the inventor Spalanzani admires his most recent invention, the
mechanical doll Olympia, with which he hopes to recover money he
lost in the collapse of the banking house of Élias. Hoffmann, the
first guest to arrive, discovers Olympia and falls in love with
her. Nicklausse gently teases him. The mad scientist Coppélius
arrives and sells Hoffmann a pair of magic glasses through which
he alone perceives Olympia as human. Spalanzani and Coppélius
haggle over their share of the doll's profits, the latter claiming
he owns her eyes. When Coppélius agrees to sell his rights to
Spalanzani for 500 ducats, the inventor gives him a check drawn
against the house of Élias. Coppélius jokingly suggests that
Olympia be married off to Hoffmann. After other guests arrive,
Olympia captivates the crowd with a dazzling aria, accompanied by
Spalanzani at the harp. Oblivious to the periodic running down of
the doll's mechanism, Hoffmann is enchanted. When everyone goes to
dinner, leaving the two alone, Hoffmann pours out his heart to
Olympia. Believing she loves him as well, he kisses her; she
whirls into motion and out of the room. Nicklausse suggests that
Olympia might not be alive, but the poet refuses to listen. Coppélius
returns in a fury, having discovered that Spalanzani's bank draft
is worthless, and hides as the guests return from dinner for a
waltz. They are joined by Hoffmann and Olympia, who whirl faster
and faster, until Hoffmann falls and breaks his magic glasses.
Seizing his chance for revenge, Coppélius grabs Olympia and tears
her apart.
ACT II: Crespel has fled with his daughter, Antonia, to Munich to end her love
affair with Hoffmann. Sitting at the harpsichord, she sings a
plaintive love song. Crespel begs her to give up singing: she has
a weak heart, and the effort will endanger her life. He instructs
his hard-of-hearing servant, Frantz, to allow no one into the
house while he is gone. Left alone, Frantz tries to sing and
dance. Hoffmann arrives, and Nicklausse, citing his past
experience with love, tries to persuade him to devote himself
solely to art. But Hoffmann resists, swearing eternal love to
Antonia. Though she says her father has forbidden her to sing, she
cannot resist asking if Hoffmann wishes to hear her. They join in
a love song until Antonia nearly faints. Crespel returns and is
alarmed by the arrival of the charlatan Dr. Miracle, whom he
recognizes as an omen of doom: it was Miracle who treated
Crespel's wife the day she died. While Hoffmann watches from a
hiding place, the evil doctor inquires after Antonia and her
overpowering love of music. Miracle questions the absent girl and
describes her irregular pulse; when he commands her to sing, her
voice is heard. The doctor offers medicines to save the girl, but
Crespel, knowing this means death for his daughter, forces Miracle
out. When Antonia returns, Hoffmann begs her not to sing. She
reluctantly agrees, and he leaves, promising to return the next
day. Miracle suddenly reappears, taunting Antonia with prospects
of fame as a singer. The girl cries out to the portrait of her
Mother, a famous singer, to help her resist temptation. Conjuring
the portrait to life, Miracle declares that the Mother, speaking
through him, wants Antonia to equal the glory of her own fame. As
Miracle fiddles wildly on his violin, Antonia sings more and more
feverishly until she collapses. Hoffmann rushes in, only to find
her dead.
ACT III: In a Venetian palace on the Grand Canal, the courtesan Giulietta joins
Nicklausse in a languid barcarole. Hoffmann abruptly changes the
mood as he mockingly praises the pleasures of the flesh.
Giulietta's current lover, Schlemil, jealously acknowledges her
apparent affection for Hoffmann. Giulietta invites her guests to
the gaming tables, but Nicklausse remains behind to warn Hoffmann
against forming any attachment to the courtesan. The poet denies
interest in her, declaring that should he fall in love with her,
the devil may have his soul. Dappertutto, overhearing them,
produces a large diamond with which he will bribe Giulietta to
steal Hoffmann's reflection, just as she already has stolen
Schlemil's shadow. Lured by the diamond, Giulietta agrees. She
seduces Hoffmann, who is about to depart, and he falls in love
instantly; during a passionate duet, she carries out Dappertutto's
command. Schlemil returns, accusing Giulietta of having left him
for Hoffmann. When Dappertutto comments on the poet's pallor,
Hoffmann asks for a mirror and realizes with horror that he has
lost his reflection, but he is trapped by his infatuation. As the
guests depart, Hoffmann demands that Schlemil give him the key to
Giulietta's room; when Schlemil refuses, Hoffmann kills him in a
duel, with a sword proffered by Dappertutto. Taking the key from
his rival, Hoffmann rushes to Giulietta's room, only to find it
empty. Returning, he finds her leaving the palace with yet another
admirer, the dwarf Pitichinaccio, whom she embraces....
EPILOGUE: Hoffmann has finished his tales and wants only to get
drunk and forget. Nicklausse reveals that each story described a
different aspect of one woman, Stella. Arriving in the tavern
after her performance, the opera singer finds the poet confused
and sneering; Stella prepares to leave with the triumphant
Lindorf. Hoffmann interrupts their departure to sing one last
verse of "Kleinzach," then collapses. Only the Muse
remains behind with Hoffmann, who belongs to her at last.
Source: Metopera Website - Comments: John W. Freeman |
