Les contes d'Hoffmann - Barcarolle

The Barcarolle (from Act II in Jacques Offenbach's opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann). The singers are Agnes Baltsa ("Giulietta") and Claire Powell ("Nicklausse," Hoffmann's muse). A 1980 performance by The Royal Opera, Covent Garden, cond. Georges Pretre.


Act Two

After a long search, Hoffmann finds the house where Crespel and his daughter Antonia are hiding. Hoffmann and Antonia loved each other, but were separated when Crespel decided to hide his daughter from Hoffmann. Antonia has inherited her mother's talent and voice, but her father forbids her to sing because of the mysterious illness from which she is suffering. He also forbids her to see Hoffmann, who is encouraging Antonia in her musical career, and is therefore a danger to her without his knowing it. But when Crespel leaves his house, Hoffmann takes advantage of the occasion to sneak into the house, and the lovers are re-united. When Crespel comes back, he receives the visit of Dr Miracle (this act's evil incarnation), who forces Crespel to let him heal Antonia. Still in the house, Hoffmann listens to the conversation and learns that Antonia may die if she sings too much. He returns to her room to make her promise to give up her artistic dreams. Antonia reluctantly accepts her lover's will. Once she is alone, Dr Miracle enters Antonia's room and try to persuade her to sing and to follow her mother's path to glory, stating that Hoffmann is sacrificing her to his brutishness and loves her only for her beauty. Having some mystic powers, he raises a vision of Antonia's dead mother and induces her to sing to death. Crespel arrives just in time to witness his daughter's last breath. Hoffmann enters the room and Crespel wants to kill him, thinking that he is responsible for his daughter's death. Nicklausse saves his friend from the old man's vengeance.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Barcarolle
• Covent
• Garden
• Les
• contes
• d'Hoffmann
• Jacques
• Offenbach
• Agnes
• Baltsa
• Claire
• Powell

[arayamusic]

My God! this staging is a Watteau painting come to life...

[charminsouthernbelle]

What is it about this that makes me want to cry?

[arpeggio1358]

@ernestlow Baltsa is simply brilliant in this.

[cdyexhibit]

@TheMwagz And the synopsis supplied for this video's information is, again, wrong.

[MisterSenseless]

FAIL: The video description is for the Antonia Act, the Baracole is from the tale of Giuiletta.

That being said, Offenbach wrote Act II to be Antonia and III as Giuiletta, though until recently they were always swapped.

[bjnevin]

DeMille would have LOVED this!!

[TheMwagz]

@cdyexhibit there are many different interpretations on where each act should go, as Offenbach was not alive to oversee the production. The Met is doing the Antonia act second, but there are interpretations (such as this) that have the Giulietta act going second.

[cdyexhibit]

The synopsis is for the Antonia act. The Barcarolle is from Act III, the GIulietta act.

[cearbhaill]

Every time I hear this bit I think of a particular old friend. I miss her.

[batt2]

Bravissimo!

[fallenlilyrose]

thanks for putting this up, but in the information bit, your describing act II, isn't this from act III?

[18bcarlson]

While it may have originally been intended to have Giulietta in the last act, historically Giulietta has been performed in act 2. I have always thought the way each act be performed non sequentially and allowing the Giulietta act to be performed at different locations gives this opera a lot of thematic complexity.