Les Contes D'hoffmann: Levine / Vpo Domingo Murray Van Dam Malfitano

J. Offenbach: Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Hoffmanns Erzahlungen, Phantastische Oper in drei Akten mit einem Prolog und einem Epilog)

Placido Domingo (Hoffmann, Dichter - Tenor)
Ann Murray (Nicklausse - Mezzosopran, Muse - Mezzosopran)
Jose van Dam (Lindorf, Stadtrat - Bariton, Coppelius, Spalanzanis Widersacher - Bariton, Le docteur Miracle - Bariton, Le capitaine Dapertutto, Zauberer - Bariton)
Catherine Malfitano (Stella, Sangerin - Sprechrolle, Olympia, mechanische Puppe, Antonia, Sangerin - Sopran, Giulietta, Kurtisane - Sopran)
Remy Corazza (Andres, Stellas Diener - Tenor, Cochenille, Spalanzanis Diener - Tenor, Frantz - Tenor, Pitichinaccio, Verehrer Giuliettas - Tenor)
Jocelyne Taillon (Stimme von Antonias Mutter - Mezzosopran)
Peter Weber (Hermann - Bariton, Peter Schlemil, Giuliettas Liebhaber - Bas)
Gerard Friedmann (Nathanael - Tenor, Spalanzani, Erfinder - Tenor)
Kurt Rydl (Luther - Bas, Crespel, Antonias Vater - Bariton)
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor (Chor)
Wiener Philharmoniker (Orchester)
James Levine (Dirigent)

That the “impossible art form” of opera may occasionally require the ordering hand of a strong directorial team and that such an approach may pay handsome dividends was demonstrated by the version of Jacques Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann on which Jean-Pierre Ponnelle and James Levine collaborated in the early 1980s, a production guaranteed to cast its bewitching spell on Salzburg audiences.
The production opened in 1981 and is captured here in its 1982 revival, when its protagonist, Placido Domingo, was at the very peak of his form. Appearing alongside him were two brilliant young female singers, Catherine Malfitano, who successfully faced up to the challenge of singing all three of Hoffmann’s loves, Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta, and Ann Murray, who was ideally cast in the double role of Niklausse and Hoffmann’s Muse, her solo numbers a notable feature of Fritz Oeser’s new performing edition of the score and, as such, largely unfamiliar to the majority of the audience. With the mercurial Jose van Dam in the role of the four villains and with James Levine’s unerring instinct for the theatre firing the Vienna Philharmonic in the pit, Offenbach’s opera fantastique was brought to vibrant life.(orfeo)