# San Francisco Tales



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Well, that was interesting.

I had thought, before I came, that Dessay would be attempting all four heroines, but she wound up doing only Antonia. I thought Alice Coote would be Nicklausse, and she wasn't, at least not last night. I thought this was going to be a new production, and apparently it's been around at one house or another since at least 2003. Well, I checked Amazon a minute ago and at least it's not out on DVD yet! I think.

I was expecting the unexpected, too. Tales of Hoffmann is an opera that directors and music conductors make pretty free with - as it wasn't finished, I guess you can pretty much do as you like. Such odd productions I've seen on video! So I was thinking it would be strange. I was right about that.

Nicklausse was probably the best of the whole thing. The actress playing her - Angela Brower - is, although an American, a member of the Munich Bavarian State Opera, and had a lot of confidence, and sang well. I don't single her out for just that reason - a number of the cast members were totally into it and held nothing back - but of those who committed totally to their roles and to the production, she had the most singing. Spalanzani (Thomas Glenn), the image of Lon Chaney in his Phantom of the Opera getup, only with a fright wig added, was also leaning forward in his foxhole. Steven Cole as Franz, Andres and Cochenille almost stole the show, and not just with the famous "Methode" song, but also with the subtlety and careful attention he brought even to his smallest lines.

The moment Pelly - it was a Laurent Pelly creation - can probably be proudest of was in the Olympia sequence. It's always absurd to find yourself singing love songs to a robot. To find yourself singing love songs to a robot WHO IS STRAPPED TO A STAGE BOOM AND HAS TWO VERY LARGE STAGEHAND ATTENDANTS you didn't notice - this goes way past absurd. He was going for absolutely ridiculous and he got there. I was still laughing about this ten minutes later, and I wasn't the only one.

The actress singing Olympia, unfortunately, Hye Jung Lee, really wasn't up to the coloratura. This is not surprising, as it's very difficult music. One really only has the right to be surprised when it's sung well.

Polenzani seemed, in the Prologue, to be trying to play a bitter drunk. Well, it didn't work for Domingo in his DVD with the ROH, and it didn't work for Polenzani. I think first of all, you have to have the capacity to be a bitter drunk for that to come off, and Polenzani is just too soft-edged for that; and secondly, with Hoffmann, you really can't devote yourself fully to any one characterization, because two minutes later you'll find yourself playing someone else entirely. You've got to just play the lines you've got, and not play them all the way, I think. Underplay. As a ridiculous lover (with Olympia), he shone; as a credible lover (with Antonia) he kind of faded into the woodwork; as a passionate fool (with Giulietta) the words and action were so different from what I was expecting that I can't say how he did. In this one, he kills not only Schlemihl but also Giulietta. 

And there was no septet. To me, the septet is the highlight of my favorite recording (Tucker/Peters); I think it perfectly characterizes the way circumstances seem to make us all robots, sometimes, as though deep down, in spite of all our differences, we're still all the same, and is therefore bitterly poignant; the only reason it's not the highlight of the Met production is, there's better to come, at the Met. There, the septet is the first and least of a staggering series of blows that ends the production. At San Francisco, I'm sorry to say, the whole thing just seemed to kind of dribble off into a bewildering mess, at the end. For this I think you have to blame Pelly; since this production was done at other houses before, the SF music director's influence cannot have been great. And there wasn't that much in the ending that I didn't recognize; I think he just mismanaged the emotional ride. 

Christian Van Horn, as the four villains, was entertaining, and sang well. He doesn't have quite enough weight as an actor, I think, to be top rank yet, but who knows. I wouldn't avoid a production because he was in it. And now I value Ildar Abdrazakov a bit more than I did, too! Not that I ever thought of him as weak, but ... his personality contributes more than I thought it did, to his roles.

At this point, I'm not sure I'm going back. I may see how much it would cost to just go back to Brooklyn right now, and let the tickets I have go. Berkeley is rich and strange; life from five fathoms deep. But Brooklyn is home now. And the sooner I go back, the more opera I'll get back at home.


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## sparsity (Apr 10, 2012)

I saw the final dress rehearsal. I liked the Korean singer, and Van Horn. And Stella(?) had an impecable French accent, the others not so much, and it spoiled the fun. BTW, I thought i heard a clear Verdi influence in this opera--was I imagining things?


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Oh, I don't know, probably. I would think it would be hard for composers after Verdi NOT to be influenced. But for all I know Offenbach influenced Verdi, too.


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Thanks for a superb review, guy! Although I've performed in Hoffmann I've actually never seen a production live, only on TV and DVD. It's a fairly complex opera due to the many roles and the burdens placed on whomever sings Hoffmann. But it's also one of the more "fun" operas to see, I think.

The Met production of about 3 years ago was on PBS and it was quite traditional but nicely done, especially the honey who sang Nicklausse (sorry I'm too lazy to look it up and find her name although it was love at first sight, ha ha).

Because of the complexity needed in some of the staging, Hoffmann is also prone to potential disaster. I've written a bit about the hilarious "canal boat" sequence in my earlier posts.

Hoffmann has a special place in my heart because it's when I first met and began to date this lovely soprano. She and I were a hot item around the company for most of a year, we parted friends, and still email often.

Anyway, thanks again for the thoroughly intriguing review. A question, quite serious: Have you considered writing professionally for a pastime or just for the fun of it? You've got a first rate command of the language, have good rhythm in your word choice and sentence structure (something many writers don't have), and a nice, laid back satirical (but not rude) mode of expression. I'm a writer myself, 2 mystery novels plus magazine articles, short stories, essays, and other works. Never made a huge amount of money but have enjoyed the sheer pleasure of penning an article or essay. So I'm cognizant of what it takes and you've got the skills. If you don't already write semi-professionally, I suggest that you consider it.

And lordy do I love SanFran, used to live there, one of my most beloved of US cities. Later...


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Thanks so much for the encouragement! Not a writer, but every once in a while I do get fired up about a writing project. I generally run out of ideas before the piece ends.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

katdad said:


> The Met production of about 3 years ago was on PBS and it was quite traditional but nicely done, especially the honey who sang Nicklausse (sorry I'm too lazy to look it up and find her name although it was love at first sight, ha ha).


are you referring to the production with Netrebko as Stella/Antonia?


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## katdad (Jan 1, 2009)

guythegreg said:


> Thanks so much for the encouragement! Not a writer, but every once in a while I do get fired up about a writing project. I generally run out of ideas before the piece ends.


Don't sell yourself short. Honest. I'm a professional writer and I could easily see a nice printed review inside your posting, wanting to get out. You've got the knack for brevity and clarity, and describing things in easily understandable terms. Were I you, I'd test the waters, see if a local newspaper or small publication local magazine might like an occasional "opera from the general fan aspect" review. Sell that to them. Another thread shows the incomprehensible gibberish of a "highblown" review and a down to earth review of opera will be marketable. Not a lot of money, $100 or maybe more, but I can tell you, it's fun to see your name in print.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Thanks. I may look into it. I'll give it some thought.


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