Seduced by Hoffmann Seduced by Hoffmann (June 01, 2001)

West Bay Opera caps off its season with a telling production

by Karen Willemsen

P eninsula opera buffs will be enthusing about West Bay Opera's interpretation of "The Tales of Hoffmann" ("Les Contes D'Hoffmann") for many seasons to come. Fun, delightful, soaring and passionate, "Hoffmann" has everything one would expect or want from composer Jacques Offenbach's masterpiece. Director Davis F. Oswald and his company o f accomplished actors and singers wholly satisfy.

Unable to conscript one of my friends, parents, or husband for an epic evening of opera, I arrived solo and a bit cranky. Before the opera I perused a synopsis of the "Tales", which are based on the fantastical stories of early 19th century German author Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann. I'd recommend you do the same, though afterward I felt even crankier and more adrift. Historical context notwithstanding, the hero Hoffmann is a modern woman's worst nightmare.

The author's original semi-autobiographical stories, written in the romantic tradition, develop the theme of creativity versus destructiveness, represented in the characters of the Muse and an evil councillor. Composer Jacque Offenbach and French librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carre penned the original score.

The show opens one evening when, urged by his drinking buddies, Hoffmann tells of his three lost loves: Olympia, a dancer (the witty and wonderful Marina Lucia Torres); Antonia, a singer (the angelic and gifted Karen Frankenstein); and Giulietta, a prostitute (the promising Narelle Yeo). Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos, who sang opening night, and Benoit Gendron are double-cast in the title role.

As each affair is re-enacted, I developed a gnawing sense of doom. Within 10 seconds in the presence of each woman, Hoffmann was a smitten kitten. Tragically for him, maddeningly for me, within 20 minutes or so he would discover that each was not as he had envisioned they would be.

As the music soared, Reoyo-Pazos' impassioned, effortless singing would wrap itself around me. By intermission I was having flashbacks about listening to my college boyfriend saying he felt he'd always been in love with the same woman, but mysteriously he would find her over and over, in different women.

Then I'd recover my senses. Reoyo-Pazos is the prize, not Hoffmann himself. For that matter so is the entire cast of "The Tales of Hoffmann." Each in turn commands the stage, bringing lyricism, grace and fine acting chops to their roles.

"Hoffmann's" orchestration, under the direction of Henry Mollicone, is flawless. Callie Floor's colorful, original costume designs borrow from both nineteenth-century stage traditions and modernist theatre. And Jean-Francois Revon's set designs evoke the psychological and dreamlike aspects of the story.

What most readers want from a critic is to know if they should go see a given production. My answer is a resounding yes -- you'll be no less a feminist if you do.

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

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

When: June 1-3; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday matinee at 2 p.m.

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

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