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Palo Alto Online

Looking for love in all the wrong places

by Laura Reiley

Olympia, a lifelike mechanical doll; Antonia, a singer dying of consumption; and Guilietta, a treacherous courtesan. Hoffmann sure knows how to pick 'em.

"Tales of Hoffmann," West Bay Opera's final production of the season, opens in a tavern in Nuremberg, where the lovelorn protagonist is drowning his sorrows. Hoffmann is a storyteller, a dreamweaver unable to realize his own dreams of love. Composer Jacques Offenbach's comic opera is loosely based on the fantastic stories by the German romantic poet E.T.A. Hoffmann. They tell of his three great loves and of the evil geniuses who stymie his amorous efforts at every turn.

Cuban-born tenor Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos assumes the double-cast role of Hoffmann in West Bay Opera's production alongside Benoit Gendron. Reoyo-Pazoshas has appeared extensively in opera and concerts, from "Candide" to "Tosca" to "Fidelio" and "Die Fledermaus," but this marks a first for him.

"I had seen 'Tales of Hoffmann' but never performed in it, so I had to learn it from scratch. It's an enormous role, and it's in French," Reoyo-Pazos notes. "But it's a great, great work, with an intriguing plot and story line. It's about creativity in writing."

The story weaves a mysterious tale in which human and supernatural forces meet, but as Reoyo-Pazos is quick to say, it's based on the life of a real man.

"Hoffmann was a real man who wrote fantastic tales for adults around the time of the Brothers Grimm. The opera chronicles how an evil presence always keeps him from fulfilling his loves and from succeeding in his creativity."

Stage director David Ostwald and music director Henry Mollicone have collaborated on Offenbach's only opera, each of them presented with unique challenges. With over 130 opera and theater productions under his belt, Ostwald points to "Tales of Hoffmann"'s unusual provenance as a remarkable test.

"It's an enormously interesting directorial challenge, since Offenbach died before the opera was completed. There are many different versions. In addition, about 10 years ago thousands of other pages of manuscript were found," Ostwald explains. "For clarity's sake, my initial choice was to include a scene at the beginning and the end with the Muse. We've tried to keep the larger issue in mind -- the force of creativity versus the force of destruction."

For Mollicone, a veteran of eight productions with West Bay Opera, the challenges were different.

"This is the first French opera that I've conducted. It's a language I have to study more, but there is something sweeping and beautiful about it. While Offenbach wrote many operettas, this is his only opera, with long, lyrical sections that are quite beautiful -- and this is one of the best casts I've worked with, with many fine actors and voices."

In the prologue, Hoffmann is persuaded to entertain his fellow bar mates with the story of his three great loves. First there was Olympia the doll, invented by Spalanzani and Dr. Coppelius. Coppelius sells Hoffmann a pair of magic glasses through which the doll appears human. Next, Hoffmann tells the tale of returning to Munich, where he has fallen in love with the frail Antonia, who promptly sings herself to death. In Act III, Hoffmann is in Venice, where he has met the courtesan Giuletta, who eventually blows town with another admirer.

But as Reoyo-Pazos explains, "The three loves really represent one woman, Stella, who is a prima donna playing next door in 'Don Giovanni.' The real Hoffmann was a great admirer of Mozart, which is the opera being given within this play-within-a-play. By the end, Hoffmann is drunk after telling his tales, and Stella ends up leaving with an evil man."

Hardly an upbeat love story, there is hope.

"At the end, the Muse sings, 'I was always with you. I've always been your source of inspiration. Out of the cinders of your heart, rekindle the flames of love and creativity,'" explains Reoyo-Pazos.

Certainly, the story-within-a-story structure of "Tales of Hoffmann" can be confusing, but Mollicone reassures, "Like something out of a dream, there is a lot of magic to the show. However, the basic plot will be very clear, but with room for speculation and interpretation among the audience."

What: West Bay Opera presents The Tales of Hoffmann in French with supertitles

Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto

When: May 25-27 and June 1-3; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Cost: Tickets are $36, with a special $18 youth ticket (for those under 18) for Sunday matinees only.

Call: (650) 424-9999 or visit www.wbopera.org