Les Contes d’Hoffmann
On 16 November 2025, Jacques Offenbach's fantastic opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann will celebrate its premiere at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden – in a production by Lydia Steier under the musical direction of Bertrand de Billy. With this production, one of the most fascinating works in the French repertoire returns to the stage at Unter den Linden in a new, visually striking interpretation. This important work of opera literature was last premiered here in March 1987.
In Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Offenbach's last and unfinished opera, the boundaries between dream and reality, love and loss, art and madness become blurred. The poet Hoffmann, both narrator and driven man, encounters three women in his memories – Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta. They are all projections of his longing and lead to tragic fates. The sequence of these episodes creates a multi-layered portrait of an artist who vacillates between inspiration and self-destruction – an opera that is equally beguiling, disturbing, touching and moving.
Lydia Steier, director and designated artistic director of the Ruhrtriennale, who staged Puccini's La fanciulla del West at the Staatsoper in 2021, has attracted considerable international attention with her scenically opulent works. She approaches Offenbach's work as a grand theatrical narrative about the power of imagination and transposes the frame story to early 1980s New York, inspired by Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and Richard Donner's Scrooged. Her Hoffmann is dark, ironic, entertaining and at the same time profound – a dazzling revue in which memories, dreams and fears are inextricably interwoven.
Together with Momme Hinrichs (stage and video) and Ursula Kudrna (costumes), Lydia Steier creates a varied scenery. The lighting design is by Olaf Freese, the choreography by Tabatha McFadyen.
The title role is played by Samoan tenor Pene Pati, who makes his role debut in the premiere series. From March 2026, Benjamin Bernheim will take over the role of Hoffmann. Both artists were recently awarded this year's ‘Opus Klassik’ prize.
The other roles are played by Nina Minasyan (Olympia), Julia Kleiter (Antonia), Clara Nadeshdin (Giulietta), Roberto Tagliavini (Lindorf, Coppélius, Dapertutto, Dr. Miracle), Ema Nikolovska (La Muse / Nicklausse), Ya-Chung Huang (Andrès, Cochenille, Frantz, Pitichinaccio), Manuel Winckhler (Luther), David Oštrek (Hermann), Álvaro Diana (Nathanaël), Florian Hoffmann (Spalanzani), Stefan Cerny (Crespel), Natalia Skrycka (voice of Antonia's mother) and Jaka Mihelač (Schlemihl). In addition, the State Opera Choir, rehearsed by Dani Juris, can be seen on stage.
Furthermore, Kammersängerin Brigitte Eisenfeld returns to the stage of the State Opera in the role of the old lady in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, created especially for this production. She has been closely associated with the house since her debut in 1972, was a permanent member of the ensemble from 1974 to 2008, and shaped the artistic profile of the State Opera for decades with numerous important roles in her field.
Bertrand de Billy will conduct the Staatskapelle Berlin, returning to the Staatsoper to conduct a new production after Nabucco (2024).
The Staatsoper would like to express its sincere gratitude to the friends and patrons of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and its main partners, BMW and the Hilti Foundation, for their support.