The Tales of Hoffmann - Performance History

Performance History

The opera was first performed in a public venue, without the 'Giulietta' act, at the Opéra-Comique on 10 February 1881. It had been presented in an abridged form at the house of Offenbach, 8 Boulevard des Capucines, on 18 May 1879, with Madame Franck-Duvernoy in the soprano roles, Auguez as Hoffmann (baritone) and Émile-Alexandre Taskin in the four villain roles, with Edmond Duvernoy at the piano and a chorus directed by Albert Vizentini. As well as Carvalho of the Opéra-Comique, the director of the Ringtheater in Vienna, Franz von Jauner, was also present, and a four-act version with recitatives was staged there on 7 December 1881, although a gas explosion and fire occurred at the theatre after the second performance.

The opera reached its hundredth performance at the Salle Favart on the 15 December 1881, but the fire at the Opéra-Comique in 1887 destroyed the orchestral parts, and it was not seen again in Paris until 1893 at the Salle de la Renaissance du Théâtre-Lyrique when it received 20 performances. A new production by Albert Carré (including the Venice act) was mounted at the Opéra-Comique in 1911, with Léon Beyle in the title role and Albert Wolff conducting; this remained in the repertoire until the Second World War, reaching 700 performances of the piece at the theatre. Following a recording by Opéra-Comique forces in March 1948 Louis Musy created the first post-war production in Paris, conducted by André Cluytens. The Paris Opera first staged the work in October 1974, directed by Patrice Chéreau with Nicolai Gedda in the title role.

Outside France, the piece was mounted in Geneva, Budapest, Hamburg, New York and Mexico in 1882, Vienna (Theater an der Wien), Prague and Anvers in 1883 and Lvov and Berlin in 1884. Later local premieres included Buenos Aires in 1894, St Petersburg in 1899, Barcelona in 1905 and London in 1910.