Storytellers

It has taken Laurent Pelly’s production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann some thirteen years to travel from Lyon, where it had its première in 2005, to the stage of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. While trends have come and gone in the intervening years, it is difficult to imagine the staging having ruffled many feathers even back then. It remained faithful to the text without being slavish, created a consistent visual environment for the action, and otherwise left plenty of room for vocal performances; and with a strong quartet of lovers from Cristina Pasaroiu, an equally compelling assortment of villains from Alex Esposito, an ardent Hoffmann and a solid supporting cast, the evening had enough in the way of performances to keep it running smoothly.

The problem with any production of Hoffmann is that one can never be entirely sure what one is going to…