The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Tales of Hoffman
TALES OF HOFFMAN (Les Contes
d'Hoffman), Opera comique in prologue and
three acts by Jacques Offenbach (libretto by
Barbier), first produced at Paris, 10 Feb. 1881,
several months after the composer's death. In
spite of the unparalleled success which Offenbach
had achieved with his light-hearted, clever
and unfailingly melodious operas bouffes, he
evidently desired to bequeath to posterity a
work of more serious artistic import; and he
spent his most ambitious efforts and years of
his life on the ‘Tales of Hoffman.’ As his end
approached, he begged the manager to produce
it in time for him to witness the premiere.
While he did not live to see it, the public took
to the work no less heartily than to the operettas
and it will undoubtedly outlive them. The story
is novel and cleverly put together. The
prologue shows Hoffman and his fellow students in
Luther's Inn at Nuremburg; he is persuaded
to tell of his three love encounters and these
form the three succeeding acts. The opera
ends as it began, Hoffman acclaimed a hero by
his admiring friends. Inspired by its romance
and fantasy, Offenbach has written a genuinely
attractive score, which displays his talent for
melody-making and ingenious characterization
at its best. The barcarolle, in the second act,
once heard, is never to be forgotten. Alone it

would have made the opera, but there are
many other numbers worthy of recall — the
burlesque ballad of Kleinzach, sung by Hoffman
in the prologue and epilogue. Nicklausse's
song of the doll, the automaton's song, “Les
oiseaux dans la charmille,” Antonia's romance,
“Elle a fui,” and the trio finale of the third act.
Offenbach's treatment of the dramatic situations
is always clever and at times subtle. The
orchestration, while simple, is refined and the
general artistic level of the work greatly above
that on which he was usually content to stand.
In Europe, ‘Tales of Hoffman’ has been
pursued by superstitious fear on the part of the
managers owing to the fact that its first
performance at the Ring Theatre in Vienna was
the occasion of a conflagration which caused
great loss of life. Its revival in New York by
Oscar Hammerstein in 1907 proved that its
original appeal is still potent.