Between surrealism and romanticism

Video-Interview

Jacques Offenbach's unfinished final opera has a magic all of its own. In the ‘opéra fantastique’ Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), the boundaries between reality and dreams, between love and art, between life and death become blurred. Offenbach draws on a play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, who in turn incorporate motifs from the darkly romantic stories of E. T. A. Hoffmann and make the poet himself the tragic hero: Hoffmann waits, thoroughly drunk, in a wine bar for Stella, a singer with whom he is completely infatuated. Encouraged by his friends, he begins to recount his formative encounters with three women: the mechanical doll Olympia, the terminally ill singer Antonia and the seductive courtesan Giulietta.

Three characters who could not be more different, yet they are also embodiments of a single idea. Each of them represents a facet of artistry: the pursuit of perfection, devotion to art, the lure of sensuality – Hoffmann loses each of them. At the same time, Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta are projections of Hoffmann, so that as a viewer one inevitably has to question how subjective his narratives are. It is not only the fragmentary nature of the work, which has been handed down in numerous versions, adaptations and editions, that contributes to the fact that each new production offers fundamentally different interpretations of the story.

Director Lydia Steier and tenor Pene Pati, who is making his debut in the title role, discussed this after a rehearsal at a location directly related to the opera. The setting for Les Contes d’Hoffmann is a restaurant that still exists today, located in Hoffmann’s former residence: Lutter & Wegner on Gendarmenmarkt. It was here that E. T. A. Hoffmann once lost himself in memories – and his intoxication became the starting point for one of the most fascinating but also most complex operas of the late 19th century.

‘It took me a while to get into the piece at first,’ admits Lydia Steier, referring to its recent reception history. ‘There are repeated attempts to give the three women an agenda in the sense of a feminist reading, but I can't see it.’ At the same time, she is fascinated by the countless colours of the opera, which result, among other things, from the different worlds in which the acts are set. ‘There is Hoffmann's deep tragedy, the gloom, but also plenty of melodramatic, comical or grotesque moments – everything that makes up life.’ For Steier, the sheer all-encompassing richness of the opera's content is ultimately also the key to her interpretation: ‘I tell the story as a review of a life. In our production, Hoffmann dies right at the beginning and, in a kind of surreal purgatory – I don't find the term “purgatory” entirely appropriate – looks back on his actions as a human being, rather than as an artist.’ Pene Pati, who is practically on stage non-stop during this murderously long and demanding performance, is delighted to be working with Lydia Steier. "I find the concept incredibly compelling. It has opened up a whole new perspective on the piece for me, because it's not just about Hoffmann as an artist, but a reflection on his entire life. Hoffmann has to learn to deal with his inner demons, which I find realistic and universally applicable.‘ The director is also enthusiastic about the cast she is working with on the opera: ’The comic moments in particular require such a high degree of precision that not every singer can pull them off."

‘The concept opened up a whole new perspective on the piece for me, because it's not just about Hoffmann as an artist, but a reflection on his entire life.’

Pene Pati

In addition to the title character, Lydia Steier makes two other characters central figures: The muse in the form of an angel and the devil – embodied by the four ‘villains’ Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr Miracle and Dapertutto – argue over the dead Hoffmann and want to decide, based on a review of his life, whether he will be sent to hell or allowed to ascend to heaven – an existential conflict. ‘In the frame story, Hoffmann is an artist marked by life in 1980s New York. In purgatory, he suddenly finds himself in a shady bar with a green shimmer, where he encounters numerous dead artists,’ Lydia Steier describes the scene. ‘Here, Hoffmann tells the story of the three women and immediately takes an outside perspective in the Olympia act: Hoffmann observes his 10-year-old self during his first disastrous love experience. I particularly like this view of his own character,’ explains Pene Pati.

The story's setting on the threshold between life and death, between this world and the next, ultimately leads us back to E. T. A. Hoffmann and his tales, which reveal a pronounced fascination with the worlds of dreams and fantasy. The characters who appear in the opera as Hoffmann's adversaries are also characterised by diabolical imagery in the literary source material. The intermediate realm in which angels and devils operate in Lydia Steier's production thus becomes a neo-Romantic hidden object picture – colourful, bizarre and, above all, entertaining.

This also corresponds to the thoroughly heterogeneous music of Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Its stylistic range extends from Olympia’s almost superhumanly virtuoso aria, which seems like a parody of the mechanical perfection of opera, to the famous “Barcarole” – a night song about love, lust and transience. The choir and ensemble embody numerous, sometimes strange characters who populate Hoffmann's fantasy worlds. But there are also touching moments of great intimacy, especially in the chamber-play-like Antonia act. The Berlin version is based primarily on the new edition by Michael Kaye and Jean-Christophe Keck and was created in collaboration between Lydia Steier and dramaturge Maurice Lenhard with musical director Bertrand de Billy, a proven expert on Offenbach's music.

Thirty-eight years have passed since the last new production of Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, meaning that an entire generation of opera lovers has grown up without experiencing Offenbach's masterpiece in a new interpretation at this venue. On 16 November 2025, the premiere will take place on the stage of the Staatsoper – not far from the historic sites associated with E. T. A. Hoffmann, where Berlin reveals its romantic side, at least at second glance. From mid-November, an audio walk available on the Staatsoper website will encourage further exploration of E. T. A. Hoffmann, taking listeners to the most important places associated with the romantic poet.

by Christoph Lang