Breathing fresh life into ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Having an audience view a classic show as though they were experiencing it for the first time is no small aim. But that’s what Tom Creed set out to do when directing The Tales of Hoffmann for Irish National Opera. It will be staged at Galway’s Town Hall Theatre next Tuesday, October 3, as part of a national tour.

Jacques Offenbach’s opera, first performed in Paris in 1881, is based on three macabre stories by the romantic German writer, Hoffmann, as told by one drunken narrator.

Each story deals with a failed love affair; the first is Hoffmann’s entanglement with a mechanical singing doll, Olympia, the second involves Antonia, a singer with a condition that will cause her to die if she actually sings, the third tells of his infatuation with a Venetian courtesan, Giulietta.  Then, there’s Stella, the woman he’s currently in love with.

For Tom, a Corkman whose impressive directing career spans theatre and opera, having the Irish soprano Claudia Boyle on the team for this production was a gift when it came to deciding on his approach.

Because it’s such a large piece and has had different treatments over the years, “there are so many decisions you have to make about it”, he explains.

The Tales of Hoffmann was Offenbach’s last work, performed after his death, and even then, there were two versions, he adds. So, it’s always been a bit of a mystery.

But, about a decade ago in Paris, the discovery of a lost score by Hoffman, helped to shed more light on the composer’s vision for the piece.

This resource was used by Tom for this INO production – the INO is a new company which grew from a merger between Wide Open Opera and Opera Theatre Company.

Offenbach intended that the three love interests of the narrator would be played by the same singer, who would also perform the role of Stella. But because the roles are so different, “that’s a really big ask”, says Tom. Having someone of the calibre of Claudia Boyle, however, makes it possible.

“And she was up for the challenge of taking on four roles.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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