A tale of three Hoffmanns at the Komische Oper

By Mark Pullinger, 08 October 2015

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“Chevalier threw in snarls, squeals and barks as Olympia’s mechanisms went berserk”

Reviewed at Komische Oper Berlin, Berlin on 7 October 2015

Offenbach, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann)

Komische Oper Berlin

Stefan Blunier, Conductor

Barrie Kosky, Director

Katrin Lea Tag, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Edgaras Montvidas, Hoffmann

Dimitry Ivashchenko, Lindorf

Nicole Chevalier, Antonia, Olympia, Giulietta, Stella

Karolina Gumos, Nicklausse, The Muse, Voice of Antonia's Mother

Uwe Schönbeck, Hoffmann as an old man

Dominik Köninger, Hoffmann as a young man

Peter Renz, Andrès, Pitichinaccio

Philipp Meierhöfer, Cochenille, Peter Schlémil, Crespel

Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin

Chorsolisten der Komischen Oper Berlin

Barrie Kosky directs a ferocious new Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Zenaida des Aubris, 31st January

Shostakovich's opera is laid bare in Berlin, to devastating effect, with a distinguished cast led by Ambur Braid.

****1

Masks and obsessions: Evgeny Titov’s Salome at Komische Oper Berlin

Zenaida des Aubris, 22nd November

Salome is faceless and the Dance of the Seven Veils becomes a sardonic commentary on seduction in Komische Oper Berlin's austere new staging.

****1

Opulent minimalism: Kosky directs a new staging of Akhnaten

Zenaida des Aubris, 23rd March

Barrie Kosky's new production of Philip Glass' Akhnaten for Komische Oper at the Schillertheater removes any egyptological references.

****1

A blade too dull: Kosky directs Sweeney Todd at Komische Oper

Elena Luporini, 17th November

With a brand new production by Barrie Kosky, Komische Oper Berlin's first venture into the Sondheim repertoire mostly falls flat.

**111

Kirill Serebrennikov’s Marriage of Figaro challenges Edinburgh

David Smythe, 16th August

Komische Oper Berlin's The Marriage of Figaro is staged at the Edinburgh International Festival with a strong cast headed by Penny Sofroniadou and Peter Kellner.

****1

Kosky's Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will at Komische Oper

Elena Luporini, 22nd March

It takes two to tango... but what about vaudeville? A rerun of Barrie Kosky's production of Oscar Straus' Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will owes most of its charm to the two leads.

***11

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

A tale of three Hoffmanns: Kosky’s Komische Oper production a triumph