Offenbach - Tales of Hoffmann (Opus Arte)

Aquiles Machado, the Venezuelan tenor, who teamed up successfully with del Monaco in Opus Arte's recent La Boheme release is impressive again here as Hoffmann. This is a fine voice that I hope we will get to hear live in London before long but the interpretation is a little unusual – he and del Monaco certainly make Hoffmann a believable drunk, but also a pathetic figure who, Rigoletto-like, is a hunchback at the beck and call of the crowd who want to be entertained with extravagant stories. The Ballad of Kleinzach – a story about a wretched dwarf – is very much self-description. There's certainly a validity in this approach but it gives the character a prosaic feel and strips him of romance in this most romantic of works.

The women he aspires to love are an Olympia (Milagros Poblador) who looks like a slightly grotesque old lady painted as a little girl, a reasonably glamorous courtesan Giulietta (Valentina Kutzarova), and a touching Antonia (Maria Bayo). There's nothing wrong with the singing – Poblador tackles Olympia's tricky coloratura well and Bayo is full-toned as the tragic Antonia. Konstantin Gorny plays all of Hoffmann's rivals, without, intentionally I guess, distinguishing much between them. Katherine Goeldner is striking as the Muse/Nicklausse.

There are a few odd things about the filming of the production. Sometimes a long-shot is held for some time and it's difficult to see what's happening on stage. In the Guilietta act, several people rise in the air at one point and the camera zooms in on Hoffmann. We don't find out who they are and what they are doing up there.

I'm all for seeing the dark side of the story (here it seems to be some sort of Freudian exploration) but I found myself after a while wanting some of the garishness of the Covent Garden production (Domingo/Cotrabus/Baltsa), which is also available on DVD. As well as the darkness, verging on dinginess, of the sets and lighting, the musical performance is not really sumptuous enough much of the time. There are some colourful moments – the ravishing ensemble in Act II is accompanied by sudden and dramatic lighting changes for instance – but the overall effect is of a rather bland production in which the storytelling is not as clear as it could be. This makes the plot difficult to follow.

I didn't dislike the performance; in fact much of it is attractive to look at. I'd like a bit more from the opera but, as an alternative version to those currently available, this is worth a look and especially so for the singing of Aquiles Machado.

The opera is spread over 2 discs and there are interviews with the stars and an illustrated synopsis.

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