Production by B.Sher.
Conductor James Levine (born June 23, 1943) is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of July 2009 he has conducted more than 2,456 Met performances.
Outstanding Barcarolle:
Belle nuit
Oh nuit d'amour
Souris à nos ivresses Nuit plus douce que le jour
Oh belle nuit d'amour
Le temps fuit et sans retour...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd3_8AfOFFg
with Anna Netrebko & Elīna Garanča
I love her soprano so much, she was clearly the vocal star among the female singers, but I do not feel her passion in the role of Antonia. Looks like she was distant from the character, with no worm filling in her eyes, and no right body language. Pity.
I heard, that Netrebko was supposed to perform all four Hoffmann paramours and I am so happy that it did not happen. Kim fashioned the role of crazed inventor Spalanzani's mechanical amusement Olimpia from visual to aural perfection. The petite coloratura soprano won the crowd over with her dexterous miming of the doll's herky-jerky motions. We were thrilled by her performance.
We had a lot of amassing experience with this piece. The performance continued for around three and a half hours and we enjoyed every single moment of it. But, of cause, it is steel surrogate (like instant coffee instead of prepared from grains)– no feeling of real theatre. We were so disappointed with the costumes and stage décor.
Jacques Offenbach (born Jacob Offenbach; 20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880) was a German-born French. The Tales of Hoffmann (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), composed at the end of his career, has become the most familiar of Offenbach's works in major opera houses.
