Jacques Offenbach
New version of Les contes d'Hoffmann (The tales of Hoffman)
"Les contes d'Hoffmann" by Jacques Offenbach is an opéra fantastique composed in 1880. This was Offenbach's final work—he died four months before its premiere with the manuscript in hand. Based on three E. T. A. Hoffmann stories, the opera follows the poet Hoffmann as he recounts his three great loves to students in a tavern. Each tale features a different woman and a sinister nemesis who thwarts romance, blending fantasy, tragedy, and the supernatural into a haunting exploration of love and artistic obsession.