The Tales of Hoffmann - aria: Quick the Night Flies

[snailysaurus]

A lovely aria, and beautifully sung - but as haunting as it is, it has no real place in "Les contes d'Hoffmann". Fritz Oeser interpolated it in his 1979 edition/adaptation - it actually comes from the first act of Offenbach's "Die Rheinnixen" ["Dort, wo hundertjahr'ge Eichen" - an legend/ballad for Armgard telling the tale of the eponymous Rhine Nixies], Offenbach had no intention of ever including it in "Hoffmann"; the choice to do so was entirely Oeser's and is unauthentic.