There’s something just zany and delightful about Seattle Opera’s recent The Tales of Hoffmann. As a Speight send-off at the end of the season, it pulls out all the theatrical magic stops with fire, fog, puppetry, and even a shout-out to the Czech tradition of black light theater. It smacks of Berlinesque staging with a soupçon of French absurdist theatre combined with the velvet tones of what either are, or should be, world-class vocal talent. All those words to say: boy, does it work.
Musically, the production is one of the best I’ve heard yet in my nearly ten years of coming to the Opera. Orchestrally, the score is well handled by conductor Yves Abel. The orchestra does not overwhelm the singers as some are want to do, and the strings section in particular does an excellent job partnering with the vocal talent to produce something pure and emotionally moving.
Tenor William Burden succeeds at playing the love sick poet, Hoffmann, who tells three stories of how he’s fallen in love with a various iterations of an operatic diva, the formidable Norah Amsellem. It’s worth mentioning that while William Burden, of course, excels vocally and convincingly plays the lovelorn hero, he has nothing on soprano Amsellem who completes what can only be called a vocal marathon not for the faint of heart, playing four characters and mastering the fiendishly difficult “Doll Aria.”
However, Kate Lindsey, who plays Hoffmann’s long-suffering Muse, elevates the production to another level. Not only is her singing flawless, the kind that gives you chills – but she can really act. Pants roles are sometimes awkward and stodgy, but Lindsey manages to convince the audience that she’s just one of the guys while under cover; her ability to switch so fluidly from femme fatale to Hoffmann’s partner in holy bromance is a spectacular feat just on its own, no incredible vocal chops required.
Maybe I’m revealing my hand too early in this reviewing process, but I am a sucker for a good bass. Nicolas Cavallier excels as various dastardly villains and gets a side-stepping, cane-twirling number in the first act to boot. I say a hearty “oui, oui” to Arthur Woodly’s impeccable French diction, unrivalled by anyone else in the production. Diction makes a difference, particularly to those of us sitting up in the hinterlands (full disclosure: I bought my own tickets to this one). Major applause too for Seattle Opera employing some locals from the Pacific Northwest in this production: Jonathan Silvia, Eric Neuville, and MishaMyznikov all perform up to par with the imported talent.
From a production standpoint, this opera excels almost like none other I have seen from Seattle Opera (granted, I’ve never been lucky enough to afford Ring tickets). Unlike many of Seattle Opera’s previous productions in recent financially-shaky seasons, Tales of Hoffmann is a truly full production that works; it dazzles with all the special musical and theatrical touches. True to the whimsical and witty style of the music and story, director Chris Alexander works in any trick he can get his hands on – tromp l’oeil painting, secret doors, magic windows, dancing beer bottles, quick scene changes that actually get applause all on their own.
The genius of this particular production is that his colorful choices actually fit the character of the music, the spirit of the story, and reinforce the underlying argument of the libretto, that art is, in the end, its own reward. I love the fact that set designer Robert Dahlstrom picks up on the meta nature of the storyline and then incorporates this into his design elements – the glorious golden proscenium arch is part form, part function. It not only reminds viewers once again that we’re viewing a story within a story, but it’s also a story about the nature of storytelling itself. We’re forced to confront our own participation with the metanarrative through what’s probably elaborate paper-mache of some sort, and that is the true transformational power of Hoffmann’s art at work.
Literal and figurative props must be given to backstage hands for handling the insane amount of physical pieces that Chris Alexander always employs. With the exception of a slightly creaky bar entrance in the third act, things worked seamlessly; boats arrive on stage, puppets are constructed out of merely shoes and cloth, and the entire interior of the Palais Garnier makes an appearance. Particular attention is also paid to the lighting and visualizations in this performance. While Chris Alexander occasionally likes to make bizarro lighting choices (he favors resolving shows with acid colors and chorus appearances), Robert Wierzel convinced him into some rich hues and dramatic moments which helped underscore many of the Muse’s arias.
What I particularly appreciate about Mr. Alexander’s work is that he is able to think outside of the traditional “Stand and Sing” model of staging that bores the ever-living daylights out of us young 20-somethings for whom classical music can occasionally feel like eating vegetables. Green, horrid, kale-like vegetables. I took a friend with me to the opera, and though she has little to no experience with the art form, she enjoyed it and was surprised by the amount of humor and impressive staging. (She’d like to specifically congratulate the singer with the most incredible robot walk which kept her laughing throughout the first tale).
All in all, this is a colorful, creative, and theatrically lavish production that is a joy to watch and hear.
{The Tales of Hoffman plays at the Seattle Opera through May 17. Tickets and more information can be found here.}