Baltimore Opera Company

Study Guide

Les Contes d'Hoffmann
The Tales of Hoffmann

The Story

Prologue:
In a German tavern next to an opera house, the poet Hoffmann is pining for Stella, the diva who refuses to acknowledge him. Encouraged by drink and friends, he recounts the tales of his prior loves.

First Love:
The first tale concerns Olympia, the daughter of an inventor. Unaware that she is actually a mechanical doll invented by her "father," he falls more and more deeply in love with her until she is destroyed by a rival inventor and Hoffmann realizes that she was just a machine.

Second Love:
Antonia, with whom Hoffmann is in love, is a seriously ill girl kept under the close protection of her father, who is convinced she will die as her mother did if she is allowed to sing. The evil Dr. Miracle sneaks in and convinces her to sing herself to death.

Third Love:
In Venice, Hoffmann has given up on love and chosen to succumb instead to the pleasures of wine. He falls in love with the courtesan Giulietta, who is plotting to steal his soul for one of her clients. Hoffmann fights a duel with a rival for her love, but upon winning, he sees that she has sailed away with another man.

Epilogue:
Back in the tavern, Hoffmann's friend Nicklausse admits that Hoffmann's three loves were obviously all different embodiments of Stella. As he says this, she appears from the stage entrance of the opera house and departs on the arm of another man. Nicklausse comforts Hoffmann by telling him that his sorrow will enrich his art.

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