Royal Opera

The Tales Of Hoffmann

In Cinemas 15, 16 & 19 Feb 2025
Conductor
Antonello Manacorda
Orchestra
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Cast
Juan Diego Flórez (Hoffmann), Alex Esposito (Lindorf/Coppélius/Dr Miracle/Dapertutto), Olga Pudova (Olympia), Ermonela Jaho (Antonia), Marina Costa-Jackson (Giulietta), Julie Boulianne (Nicklausse), Vincent Ordonneau (Spalanzani), Christophe Mortagne (Andrès/Cochenille/Frantz/Pitichinaccio), Alastair Miles (Crespel), Christine Rice (Muse of Poetry/Spirit of Antonia’s Mother), Jeremy White (Luther), Grisa Martirosyan (Hermann/Schlemil), Ryan Vaughan Davies (Nathanael)
Composer
Jacques Offenbach
Director
Damiano Michieletto
Set Design
Paolo Fantin
Duration
Approx. 4h incl. 2 intervals
Sung in French, with English subtitles
Captured live from Covent Garden, London, Nov 2024
Official Event Listing
  • An instant winner. Lavish, imaginative fun.
    David Larkin, BACHTRACK
    Outstanding. Michieletto's production offers a glittering world of fantasy and villain-wielding twists, a a journey of fevered imagination, absurdity and deep emotion.
    Gina Fairley, ARTSHUB
    Intoxicating and ingenious. Michieletto's thrilling staging delights and excites in equal measure - a vivid spectacle as visually extravagant as it is theatrically cohesive.
    Keith McDonnell, MUSIC OMH
    Fun and carnivalesque, full of warped wit and devilish touches. A fine cast bring this colourful fever-dream to life.
    Flora Wilson, THE GUARDIAN
    Engaging and thought-provoking. Surreal sets and exuberant lighting powerfully underscore this engaging trio of love stories.
    Barry Millington, LONDON EVENING STANDARD
    Gorgeous. Not only is Michieletto's latest production a visual feast and a riot of fantastical ideas, but it also achieves coherence around the narrative thread of Hoffmann’s character changes as he ages with each love affair. Thoroughly enjoyable.
    David Karlin, BACHTRACK
    Dazzling. A beautiful, visually compelling production, full of wit, a bit of self-parody, and a lot of sharply disciplined strutting chorus routines.
    Nicholas Kenyon, THE TELEGRAPH

Opera fantastique in four acts (1881)

New Production!  Four women: four curious love stories. The great Juan Diego Flórez leads a fantastic cast in Offenbach's dream-like opera. Through the haze of the years, a poet remembers the women he loved. But when it comes to matters of the heart, nothing is as it seems. Particularly when the devil himself (Alex Esposito) is involved…  

Journeying back to his school days, Hoffmann relives his childhood romance with Olympia (Olga Pudova), a model student in every sense. Doomed love follows him into adulthood, where the dancer, Antonia (Ermonela Jaho), is taken from him too soon. Meanwhile, the sensual courtesan Giulietta (Marina Costa-Jackson) has her own secret agenda. As memory and fantasy becomes increasingly blurred, will Hoffmann find the enigmatic Stella before it is too late?

Olivier award-winning director Damiano Michieletto returns to The Royal Opera with this new production that was first presented in Sydney in July 2023 with Opera Australia and Venice with Teatro La Fenice. Antonello Manacorda conducts.

Royal Opera

The Royal Opera is one of the world’s leading opera companies. Based in London’s iconic Royal Opera House (1858) in Covent Garden, it is renowned both for its outstanding performances of traditional opera and for commissioning new works by today’s leading opera composers, such as Harrison Birtwistle, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Thomas Adès.

See more productions from: Royal Ballet and Opera