Word: hoffmann
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...highlight of "The Tales of Hoffmann" was also during this scene, when the show's three strongest singers, Cannon, Benaim, and Tania Mandzy as the apparition of Antonia's mother, sang a lovely, resonant trio, accompanied by a stellar orchestral performance. Particularly noteworthy in Ranalli's orchestra were the surprisingly well-played French horns, bassoons, and harp...
...last of Hoffmann's triad of heartbreaking heroines is the conniving courtesan Giulietta (Heidi Brown). A slave to the evil Dappertutto (again played by Benaim), she tries to steal the soul of Hoffman by capturing his reflection in a mirror. She abandons Hoffmann after he engages in a bloody duel with her wealthy suitor Schlemil (James Capobianco...
After concluding his tales, the thwarted Hoffmann quips, "How strange a woman's fancy!" He is then visited by his Muse, who urges him to abandon the quixotic and capricious pursuit of women, in exchange for the majestic call of poetry, represented by her gift of a pen. (For all you Moral Reasoning students, read: Art is a higher good than Love...
...should be mentioned that producer John Cearley and his directors daringly chose to tackle an obscure and risky sleeper of an opera in "Hoffmann"--foregoing the insurance of a familiar crowd-pleaser like "The Marriage of Figaro" or "La Boheme." Although Offenbach was referred to as the "Mozart of the Champs-Elysees" earlier in his career, "The Tales of Hoffmann" was his first real opera, departing from his jokier opera-bouffe compositions of the past...
Quick to milk the sappy humor in "Hoffmann," the directors urged the title character to belt out a booming "Stel-la!" at the end, as his beloved runs off with the enemy, much to the delight of the laughing audience. Who knows what's next? Maybe a posthumous Tennessee Williams libretto. (Hey, it worked for Marge Simpson...