After rapturously acclaimed appearances in Paris and Salzburg, Benjamin Bernheim brings his Hoffmann to the Met subsequent week in Bartlett Sher’s manufacturing which makes use of three singers to painting his cursed loves.
Forward of that September 24 premiere, Chris’s Cache offers three Les Contes d’Hoffmann every with only one soprano as its heroines—Mireille Delunsch (within the Jean-Christophe Keck model), Virginia Zeani, and Patrizia Ciofi, in addition to unusually attention-grabbing Antonia acts with Mirella Freni, Carol Vaness, and Angela Gheorghiu because the doomed singer.
In Salzburg final month Bernheim pursued solely Kathryn Lewek (in 4 guises) carried out by Marc Minkowski who additionally leads right this moment’s Delunsch model from greater than twenty years earlier that includes Marlin Miller, a tenor about whom I do know little or no, within the title function. The variations between its Keck version and the model we’ll hear on the Met could be startling.
Utilizing a extra typical version, Zeani, after all along with her husband Nicola Rossi-Lemeni because the 4 villains, could appear an uncommon selection for the Offenbach roles and certainly her transposed Olympia aria is among the many most uncommon I’ve heard, however she’s all the time compelling. And I’m glad to additionally function Ciofi who has carried out not often within the US and who has lengthy been a favourite of mine however I’ve posted little of her work right here on parterre. Ciofi’s efficiency from Marseille follows the present desire for putting the Giulietta act final.
I thought of together with a recording of Richard Bonynge main his personal model with out Joan Sutherland, however three acts of piercing Luciana Serra proved an excessive amount of to listen to.
The Antonia act works nicely as a stand-alone and its main function has been the fall-back selection currently of sopranos who had agreed to sing all the heroines after which modified their minds (however most likely not their charges): Natalie Dessay and Anna Netrebko, to call two. Freni sang the function in Italian in Naples early in her profession and I imagine Gheorghiu’s 2000 Covent Backyard engagement could have been her solely instances within the function. Hers is the one one in every of right this moment’s single Antonia acts to function Nicklausse who will get his huge aria, one the Met additionally recurrently contains; it could provide Vasilisa Berzhanskaya an opportunity to shine in her Met debut.
Vaness opened the Met’s 1992-93 season as all 4 Hoffmann heroines, however her portrayals weren’t typically thought of successful. Sadly, my ticket to that revival which co-starred Placido Domingo and Samuel Ramey turned out to for the one time that Vaness canceled so I bought her three replacements: Ruth Welting (my third Olympia from a soprano who was all the time spectacularly humorous), Wendy White, and Nancy Gustafson. Nonetheless, Vaness carried out Antonia almost a dozen years earlier at New York Metropolis Opera, a broadcast of her act I’m sharing right this moment.
I’m wondering why Renée Fleming by no means sang Antonia?
Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
(Keck version)
Olympia/Antona/Giulietta/Stella: Mireille Delunsch
Nicklausse/Muse: Stéphanie d’Oustrac
La Mère d’Antonia: Sylvie Brunet
Hoffmann: Marlin Miller
Lindorf/Coppélius/Miracle/Dappertutto: Laurent Naouri
Andrès/Cochenille/Frantz/Pittichinaccio: Steven Cole
Luther: Brian Bonnatyne
Hermann/Schlemil: Frank Leguérinel
Nathnael: Emiliano Gonzalez-Toro
Spalanzani: Eric Huchet
Crespel: François Le Roux
Conductor: Marc Minkowski
Théâtre Municipal. Lausanne
2 March 2003
Broadcast
Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta/Stella: Virginia Zeani
Nicklausse/Muse: Daniele Millet
La Mère d’Antonia: Arlette Chedel
Hoffmann: Jon Crain
Lindorf /Coppélius/Miracle/Dappertutto: Nicola Rossi-Lemeni
Andres/Frantz/Piticchinaccio/Cochenille: Ricardo Cassinelli
Nathanael: Jaume Baro
Spalanzani: Jacques Loreau
Hermann: Gregor Koubrak
Schlemil: Michel Bouvier
Luther: Rene Chambaz
Crespel: José van Dam
Conductor: George Sebastian
Grand Theatre, Geneva
24 January 1965
Broadcast
Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta/Stella: Patrizia Ciofi
Nicklausse/Muse: Sarah Jouffroy
La Mère d’Antonia: Anne Salvan
Hoffmann: Gordon Gietz
Lindorf/Coppélius/Dappertutto/Miracle: Nicolas Cavallier
Andrès/Cochenille/Frantz/Pitichinaccio: Steven Cole
Crespel: Michel Trempont
Hermann/Schlemil: Patrice Berger
Nathanaël: Vincent Ordonneau
Luther: François Castel
Spalanzani: Christophe Mortagne
Conductor: Stéphane Denève
Opéra de Marseille
26 December 2004
In-house recording
Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann—Antonia Act
Antonia: Mirella Freni
La Mère d’Antonia: Teresa Mandalari
Hoffmann: Agostino Lazzari
Miracle: Sesto Bruscantini
Frantz: Sergio Tedesco
Crespel: Vito De Taranto
Conductor: Peter Maag
Teatro San Carlo di Napoli
27 February 1960
Broadcast
Antonia: Carol Vaness
La Mère d’Antonia: Jane Shaulis
Hoffmann: Riccardo Calleo
Miracle: Justino Diaz
Frantz: Douglas Perry
Crespel: Maurice Brown
Conductor: David Effron
New York Metropolis Opera
1 August 1981
Broadcast
Antonia: Angela Gheorghiu
Nicklausse: Petia Petrova
La Mère d’Antonia: Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Hoffmann: Marcelo Alvarez
Miracle: Michele Pertusi
Frantz: Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Crespel: Peter Rose
Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume
Royal Opera, Covent Backyard
29 September 2000
Broadcast
Every of right this moment’s Offenbach performances hosted on parterre could be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio participant above and the ensuing mp3 file will seem in your obtain listing.
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