One of the really cool things about loving opera in general is that it’s like a bottomless well—just like good wine, or our culinary tastes, we evolve with time. The ability to listen to so many different things in opera is a daily joy. Even though Italian music has been at the heart of my passion for over 20 years (Viva Verdi), I know that over the next 20 years I still have an immense reserve of works to discover—in German, French, and even Russian!
In our Opera Diary team, Lloyd joined us a few months ago, and one of the very first questions I asked him (of course) was what his favorite opera is. Without any hesitation, he said: Les Contes d’Hoffmann—with a lot, a lot of love for that work. I know what that’s like—defending your favorite opera when you’re talking about your passion, it’s like defending your own child. It matters a lot. So to avoid dying ignorant, and to keep exploring and refining my musical taste (and also because Marina Viotti was in the cast), I didn’t think twice—I asked the always generous and welcoming Opernhaus Zürich for a ticket to see this performance.
Obviously, when we talk about Les Contes d’Hoffmann, even if you don’t know the full opera, you surely have The Barcarolle in your head! Who doesn’t remember that scene from La Vita è Bella, where Roberto Benigni falls in love with Dora? We’d all love to start a love story like that! So yes, I was really looking forward to that moment. (Spoiler alert: I didn’t lock eyes with anyone during that scene in the theater… no love story for me—maybe next time!)
But! Before The Barcarolle, which comes later in the opera, a lot of things happen on stage! As always in Zürich, the staging went straight to the point—and special mention goes to the costumes, by the way.
The performance was excellent. I had a great time, even though Offenbach’s music doesn’t move me as much as Bellini’s or Donizetti’s—it’s definitely a very specific style, and you have to be into it.
It was a real pleasure to see Marina Viotti on stage again opposite Saimir Pirgu—they had already shared the stage last year for Carmen, and here they are again singing in French on Switzerland’s most prestigious opera stage. A joy. Speaking of the Swiss-born Marina Viotti—this woman is a true Swiss Army knife (no pun intended): whether she’s singing metal, performing in front of 775 million viewers at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony, or singing Italian opera like Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Verona two years ago, the Swiss mezzo proves yet again that she is the mezzo-soprano to watch. And I’m sure we’ll be seeing her everywhere in the years to come!
As for Hoffmann, performed by Saimir Pirgu, I don’t have many points of reference for this role, so it’s hard for me to have a firm opinion—but he definitely won over a lot of people in the audience. That said, as a Swiss person who speaks French every day, I personally found him quite hard to understand.
My favorite moment, without question, was Part II with Antonia, sung by Adriana González. A tragic, beautiful scene—especially when the mother enters. I truly loved it. It reminded me a lot of moments from the Italian repertoire. I absolutely can’t wait to see her in Otello as Desdemona in Strasbourg in a few months!
As for The Barcarolle… I was honestly disappointed with how it was treated—as if it were just a throwaway piece of music. This moment should be delicate, dreamy, suspended in time… and yet the staging did nothing to enhance that magic.
Once again, an enormous thank you to Opernhaus Zürich for their exceptional welcome, as always. Last night, the opera was performed to a sold-out theater, broadcast live to a crowd of over 15,000 people gathered in front of the opera house, and streamed worldwide via OperaVision. An important moment for the future audience of the Opernhaus, under Zurich’s 26°C summer sky—just beautiful.
Foto: T+T Fotografie / Toni Suter + Tanja Dorendor
CAST
Hoffmann – Saimir Pirgu
La Muse / Nicklausse – Marina Viotti
Olympia – Katrina Galka
Antonia – Adriana Gonzalez
Giulietta – Lauren Fagan
Stella Maria – Stella Maurizi
Lindorf / Coppélius / Le docteur Miracle / Le capitaine Dapertutto – Andrew Foster-Williams
Andrès / Cochenille / Frantz / Pitichinaccio – Nathan Haller
Maître Luther – Valeriy Murga
Hermann – Steffan Lloyd Owen
Nathanaël – Christopher Willoughby
Wolfram – Maximilian Lawrie
Wilhelm / Le Capitaine des Sbires – Lobel Barun
Spalanzani – Daniel Norman
Crespel – Stanislav Vorobyov
La Voix de la tombe – Judith Schmid
Peter Schlémil – Samson Setu
