The Tales of Hoffmann

A troupe where everyone acts as much as they sing, illuminated by a dream trial (Bourvil!) and the devilish gesture of Cluytens, set the standard for the Tales in 1948. Offenbach having died before having finished and ordered the score of his Tales of Hoffmann, it was Ernest Guiraud who was tasked with making it “viable”. In February 1881, the first spectators discovered a largely mutilated work: in addition to significant cuts in the prologue and the epilogue (which take place in a Nuremberg tavern), the entire last act – that of Giulietta, the Venetian courtesan, in whose home the poet has his reflection stolen – had been discarded. Only the Barcarolle survived, slipped between the acts of Olympia (the mechanical doll who ends up smashed) and Antonia (the young consumptive who dies from having sung). In 1907, the score published by Éditions Choudens transformed the spoken dialogues into recitatives (composed by Guiraud), inserted the air “Scintille diamant” (added by Gunsbourg) and restored Giulietta’s act, admittedly condensed and inserted between those of Olympia and Antonia. It is this version that Les Contes d’Hoffmann, recorded in March 1948, document. The disc preceded their revival at the Salle Favart, in a staging directed by Louis Musy and under the quicksilver baton of André Cluytens. The cast brings together a “troupe” welded together by the spirit of the theatre, the relief and colour of the word: everyone here plays as much as they sing.

A troupe where everyone acts as much as they sing, illuminated by a dream trial (Bourvil!) and the devilish gesture of Cluytens, set the standard for the Tales in 1948. Offenbach having died before having finished and ordered the score of his Tales of Hoffmann, it was Ernest Guiraud who was tasked with making it “viable”. In February 1881, the first spectators discovered a largely mutilated work: in addition to significant cuts in the prologue and the epilogue (which take place in a Nuremberg tavern), the entire last act – that of Giulietta, the Venetian courtesan, in whose home the poet has his reflection stolen – had been discarded. Only the Barcarolle survived, slipped between the acts of Olympia (the mechanical doll who ends up smashed) and Antonia (the young consumptive who dies from having sung). In 1907, the score published by Éditions Choudens transformed the spoken dialogues into recitatives (composed by Guiraud), inserted the air “Scintille diamant” (added by Gunsbourg) and restored Giulietta’s act, admittedly condensed and inserted between those of Olympia and Antonia. It is this version that Les Contes d’Hoffmann, recorded in March 1948, document. The disc preceded their revival at the Salle Favart, in a staging directed by Louis Musy and under the quicksilver baton of André Cluytens. The cast brings together a “troupe” welded together by the spirit of the theatre, the relief and colour of the word: everyone here plays as much as they sing.

Hoffmann attend la belle Stella dans une taverne où elle doit le rejoindre. Mais la dame se fait attendre. Hoffmann s'enivre et rêve d'amours colorées.

Magical beings like fairies, elves, witches or ghosts have always fascinated and inspired mankind. Especially in music, one encounters all these unreal creatures at every turn.

Italo-German composer Ferruccio Busoni was a titanic piano virtuoso and an architect of European modernism. Best known for his transcriptions of J.S. Bach and for his Piano Concerto, Fantasia Contrappuntistica, and opera Doktor Faust, Busoni revolutionized piano technique and opened up new harmonic concepts within boundaries of functional harmony. Busoni's idea of junge klassizität (renewed classicality) served as a building block for neo-classicism and his book remains influential. Busoni led a Berlin-based master class, training composers and pianists alike. Busoni was the son of an Italian clarinet virtuoso who was a harsh and demanding pedagogue.