Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Jacques Offenbach's grand opera—unfinished at his death—identifies itself as “fantastique,” but Christoph Marthaler's 2014 production at Madrid's Teatro Real might better be described as bizarre. The action is updated to what appears to be a 1940s club that is also an art studio populated by nude live models. Nicklausse, the young companion of Hoffmann—whose three disastrous past loves form the substance of the subsequent acts—is transformed into a querulous, drunken old lady (she and other characters onstage are usually shown either sitting around zombified or engaging in jerky fits across the stage). The original climaxes of the three acts are largely ignored here in favor of enigmatic endings, leading to general incoherence. Despite mostly solid vocalism—Eric Cutler is a decent if unmemorable Hoffmann, Anne Sofie von Otter does her best with Nicklausse, Vito Priante is fine as the various Mephistophelean characters, and the women in Hoffmann's life are all adequate—conductor Sylvain Cambreling's reserved reading of the score often lacks the required zest. A major miscalculation also mars the epilogue, as Cambreling literally stops the action in order to have Stella (Altea Garrido) recite an excerpt from a poem by Fernando Pessoa while everyone else stands like statues as they listen. It's a moment that accurately reflects the deadening effect of this misguided take on what should have been a scintillating opera. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, this is not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)