Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the main protagonist in the opera (as he is in the stories).
Barbier, together with Michel Carré, had written a play, Les contes fantastiques d'Hoffmann, produced at the Odéon Theatre in Paris in 1851, which Offenbach had seen.
The stories upon which the opera is based are "Die Gesellschaft im Keller", "Der Sandmann" ("The Sandman", 1816), "Rath Krespel" ("Councillor Krespel", also known in English as "The Cremona Violin", 1818), and "Das verlorene Spiegelbild" ("The Lost Reflection") from Die Abendteuer der Sylvester-Nacht (The Adventures of New Year's Eve, 1814). The "Chanson de Kleinzach" aria in the Prologue is based on the short story "Klein Zaches, genannt Zinnober" (1819).
Read more about The Tales Of Hoffmann: Performance History, Roles, Editions, The Barcarolle, Recordings, Film
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