Feature Performance

"Tales of Hoffman" is based on the stories of 19th Century writer/composer/artist E.T.A. Hoffmann, best known for his story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which Tchaikovsky wrote the ballet. The opera is filled with fantastic plots and famous melodies such as the Barcarolle and the Diamond Aria.

Hoffmann, a literary precursor to Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, wrote stories of the occult and the grotesque. In the opera, Hoffmann is asked by his friends to relate the story of his three former loves: Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta. As each story comes to life, the audience is drawn into his increasingly disturbing adventures of love. Accompanied by friend Nicklausse (who is actually The Muse of Art watching over him), Hoffmann travels the world. The two friends also battle over which is more important: art or love.