Les contes d'Hoffmann (in English: The Tales of Hoffmann) is an opera by Jacques Offenbach. It was first performed in Paris, at the Opéra-Comique, on February 10, 1881.
The libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann. E.T.A. Hoffmann himself is a character in the opera just as he often is in his stories. The stories upon which the opera is based are Der Sandmann,Rath Krespel, and Das verlorene Spiegelbild.
The opera contains a prologue, three acts and an epilogue. Offenbach did not live to see his opera performed, since he died on October 5, 1880, just over four months before its premiere. Before his death, Offenbach had completed the piano score and orchestrated the prologue and the first act. Since he did not entirely finish the writing, many different versions of this opera emerged, some bearing little resemblance to the original work. The version performed at the opera's premiere was that by Ernest Guiraud, who completed Offenbach's scoring and wrote the recitatives.
The Barcarolle
The most famous aria from the opera is the "Barcarolle" (Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour), which is performed in Act 2. Curiously, the aria was not written by Offenbach with Les Contes d'Hoffmann in mind. He wrote it as a ghost-song in the opera Les fées du Rhin (which premiered in Vienna on February 8, 1864 as Die Rheinnixen). Offenbach died with Les contes d'Hoffmann unfinished.
Ernest Guiraud completed the scoring and wrote the recitatives for the premiere. He also incorporated this excerpt from one of Offenbach's earlier, long-forgotten operas into the new opera.
The Barcarolle has been incorporated into many movies including Life Is Beautiful and Titanic.
It's all about the classical music composers and their works from the last 400 years and much more about music. Hier erfahren Sie alles über die klassischen Komponisten und ihre Meisterwerke der letzten vierhundert Jahre und vieles mehr über Klassische Musik.
Popular Posts
-
Friedrich Smetana was born on March 2, 1824 in Leitomischl, Austria and passed away on May 12, 1884 in Prague/CSSR. Smetana was the son...
-
What's the saddest piece of classical music? We've got some suggestions for the biggest classical tear-jerkers of all time...
-
Walking down the aisle, signing the register, the first dance – let Classic FM London help you plan the classical music for every stage of...
-
– it’s a direct link from heart to heart’ Conductor Vasily Petrenko: “To understand classical music you need no language – it’s a d...
-
Bela Bartok was born on March 25, 1881 in Southern Hungary and passed away on September 26, 1945 as migrant in New York. His father had bee...
Showing posts with label Offenbach - Barcarolle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Offenbach - Barcarolle. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)