Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Pr�lude
2. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Glou, glou, glou
3. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Le conseiller Lindorf, morbleu!
4. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Oui, l'on devient digne d'envie... Dans les r�les d'amoureux langoureux
5. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Deux heures devant moi
6. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Drig, drig, drig
7. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Vive Dieu, mes amis, la belle cr�ature!
8. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Va pour Kleinzach! (L�gende de Kleinzach)
9. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Peuh! cette bi�re est d�testable!
10. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 1. Je vous dis, moi, qu'un malheur me menace
11. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Entracte (Menuet)
12. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. L�! dors en paix
13. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Allons! courage et confiance... Ah! vivre deux
14. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Par Dieu! j'�tais bien s�r de te trouver ici!... Une poup�e aux yeux d'�mail
15. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. C'est moi, Copp�lius... J'ai des yeux, de vrais yeux
16. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Hein! vous!
17. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Non, aucun h�te vraiment
18. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Vous serez satisfaits, messieurs, dans un moment
19. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Mesdames et messieurs, fi�re de vos bravos
20. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Les-ois-eaux-dans-la-char-mille (Chanson de la poup�e)
21. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Ah! mon ami! quel accent!
22. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Ils se sont �loign�s enfin!
23. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Tu me fuis? qu'ai-je fait?
24. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 2. Voici les valseurs!
25. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Entracte... / Belle nuit, � nuit d'amour (Barcarolle)
26. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Et moi, ce n'est pas l� pardieu!... Amis, l'amour tendre et r�veur

Disc 2:

1. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Morbleu!... Au jeu!
2. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Scintille, diamant! (Air du diamant)
3. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Cher ange!
4. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Vous me quittez?... � Dieu de quelle ivresse
5. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Aujourd'hui, cependant, affermis mon courage
6. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. Schlemil!... J'en �tais s�r!
7. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. H�las! mon coeur s'�gare encore! (Septuor)
8. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 3. �coutez, messieurs!
9. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Entracte... / Scene 1. Elle a fui, la tourterelle!
10. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Malheureuse enfant!
11. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Jour et nuit je me mets en quatre
12. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Frantz! C'est ici!
13. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Pourtant � ma fianc�e
14. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. C'est une chanson d'amour qui s'envole
15. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Qu'as-tu donc?
16. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Pour conjurer le danger
17. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Allons, parle! et sois bref!
18. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Ne plus chanter!
19. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Tu ne chanteras plus?
20. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Ah! quelle est cette voix qui me trouble l'esprit?
21. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Ta m�re? Oses-tu l'invoquer?... Ch�re enfant! que j'appelle
22. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Interm�de
23. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 1. Entracte
24. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 2. Voil� quelle fut l'histoire de mes amours
25. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 2. Eh! bien, Hoffmann?... � Dieu! de quelle ivresse
26. Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera in 4 acts: Act 4. Scene 2. Hoffmann? endormi?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172706 in Music
• Released on: 2003-04-08
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .84 pounds

Amazon.com
Though this 1960s-vintage recording has fallen out of fashion in some circles because it uses a corrupt edition of the opera with recitatives, arias, and ensembles not written by Offenbach, it remains highly listenable and boasts the greatest Hoffmann on recordings: Nicolai Gedda. His voice is youthful, focused, and marvelously flexible, able to sing the music with rare precision and authority but with the weight to project dramatic authority. The women in his flashback adventures are luxuriously cast with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf using her innate aloofness as Giulietta and Victoria de Los Angeles her innate radiance as Antonia. Stylistically, conductor André Cluytens is the master, even if he was even more authentic in his 1940s recording with an all-Opera Comique cast, which is worth seeking out on EMI imports. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews

STARRY CAST YIELDS AN ENTERTAINING RECORDING
There will be many out there who will vehemently disagree with my rating this recording with four stars, but I've always found it fun and completely enjoyable. For starters, there are so many different versions of this opera that have been recorded, that it all becomes very confusing. Some versions incorporate arias and couplets that others delete, while others put Acts II and III in reverse order. This 1965 EMI recording is very traditional in the sense that it is presented in the way people were used to hearing the opera performed until very recently. Andre Cluytens made somewhat of a speciality of this opera, having eighteen years earlier recorded a wonderful performance under the aegis of the Opera Comique (it may still be available on EMI---Raoul Jobin was the tenor) which is still highly regarded, despite the limited monophonic 1948 sonics. Of course, this 1965 EMI version has much superior sound (of course in stereo). Whether or not Cluytens surpasses his earlier effort is a matter for the individual listener to decide. What IS spectacular here is the cast. Nicolai Gedda was EMI's star lyric tenor throughout from around 1958 to 1968, and he did some beautiful work for them. His Hoffmann is youthful, beautifully sung, enunciated beautifully, and his performance is altogether on the level of those of Placido Domingo, Alfredo Kraus, and Neil Shicoff (three very different tenors who later also made magic of this wonderful tenor role). George London was a highly regarded bass-baritone, and it's good to have him undertaking the two important roles of Coppelius and Dr. Miracle. He was an artist with a great vocal personality and though he is heard here a little late in his career, he is still well worth hearing, especially in these two roles. When it came to sopranos, EMI had the unique and enviable position of holding exclusive contracts with the three arguably greatest sopranos in the world - Maria Callas, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Victoria de los Angeles, and they found the opportunity, for this particular recording anyway, to cast Schwarzkopf as Giulietta and de los Angeles as Antonia. Neither soprano is completely ideal for her respective role, and neither is heard here in their very best voice. Oh, make no mistake - they're good, but knowing what they were capable of, one feels that they could have been better. Schwarzkopf is actually singing a mezzo role here, and her voice is certainly able to encompass the role, but one realizes that she was in her 50th year, and vocally perhaps a shade past her best singing days. Victoria de los Angeles was an equally great soprano, and she sounds very beautiful in the middle and lower portions of her voice, which was nevertheless by this time taxed by the highest reaches of Antonia's role (the pivotal top C sharp at the end of her act bears this out), which is not an easy one. By the way, neither Schwarzkopf or de los Angeles ever sang these roles onstage, and of course, no one would have expected them to (Maria Callas, in her absolute prime, could probably have undertaken all three of them in one evening!). Gianna d'Angelo showed a lot of potential in the 1960's (which apparently wasn't realized) and she sings a good Olympia, though I believe she eschews the top E flat at the end of the Doll Aria (which Joan Sutherland, of course, tosses off like it's nothing!)
Still, it's gratifying and fun to hear all these star singers together in this highly traditional "Hoffmann", and I doubt very much whether anyone who loves these singers will feel they they didn't get their money's worth. This recording was not universally applauded when it was first released, but today, when we realize how few star singers we have in our midst, it's been somewhat re-evaluated. Tastes change with the decades, and sometimes recordings need to be revisited, and accordingly, opinions can and frequently change over the years.

LES CONTES D'HOFFMAN
BEST RECORDING AVAILABLE. THE CAST AND CONDUCTOR, THE BEST. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CD FOR OVER 20 YEARS.

Improving with time
I first bought the LP version of this "Tales of Hoffmann" when it came out in the 1960s, and even though I enjoyed it, I had many reservations about the performances of Schwarzkopf, de los Angeles, and George London. Forty years later, I realize that those great three artists have only a few shaky moments, but the rest is outstandingly passionate and fascinating. With the first-rate performances by Gedda, D'Angelo, Ghiuselev, Blanc, Senechal, and the luminous conducting of André Cluytens, this is my favorite "Tales" from beginning to end. The sound is excellent.

Eduardo Villanueva (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)