Hoffmann: Mikhail Vekua
Olympia: Antonina Vesenina
Antonia: Anzhelika Minasova
Giulietta: Yevgenia Muravieva
Nicklausse: Yekaterina Sergeyeva
Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr Miracle, Dapertutto: Ilya Bannik
Crespel: Oleg Sychov
World premiere: 10 February 1881, Opéra Comique, Paris
Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 5 February 1899 (performed in Russian, translated by Nikolai Spassky)
Premiere of this production: 30 July 2021
Running time: 3 hours 25 minutes
The performance has one interval
Turning one's own self into a theatrical character – such a metamorphosis would undoubtedly have appealed to the great romantic Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Amadeus Hoffmann. Had he lived to the age of seventy-five, he could have attended the Paris premiere of Michel Carré and Jules Barbier's play Les Contes fantastiques d'Hoffmann (1851) and heard his own self speaking in French from the stage. In the opera, composed another thirty years after the play, Hoffmann would also sing: in the first version as a baritone, and later as a tenor, the vocal range of all fervent operatic lovers. And how he sang! The role of Hoffmann is one of the most beautiful and demanding in the international operatic repertoire. The titular protagonist is at the core of the opera, he appears in each and every act and he is the narrator, in his inebriated state opening up his soul to his drinking companions. Within this soul, the prima donna Stella reigns supreme, adopting various guises: the costly doll Olympia, the unfulfilled performer Antonia and the predatory courtesan Giulietta. Offenbach, a brilliant melodist, succeeded in making them all irresistible in their own way. If the concept of "a hit" may be used with regard to opera, then this is how one may consider the most celebrated highlights of Les Contes d'Hoffmann: Olympia's staggeringly virtuoso couplets, Antonia and her mother's bel canto duet and, lastly, the opera's "smash hit" – a delightful Venetian barcarolle, sung by Giulietta and another mysterious character, Nicklausse, ossia the Muse. Hoffmann loves them all, and each time he experiences defeat. The finale of Les Contes d'Hoffmann always ends up being something of an intrigue, as there is no one way to resolve it – and theatres offer the most widely divergent possible endings. And yet Jacques Offenbach's key idea may nevertheless be summed up: the loneliness of the artist is not absolute; crushed and disappointed, he is still left with his most precious jewel – his faithful muse, his talent that gives him the strength to live and create. Khristina Batyushina
The production is a laureate of the Highest Theatre Award of St Petersburg – Golden Sofit (2022)
The highlighting of performances by age represents recommendations.
This highlighting is being used in accordance with Federal Law N436-FZ dated 29 December 2010 (edition dated 1 May 2019) "On the protection of children from information that may be harmful to their health"