LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN to Return to the Met Opera Starring Tenor Benjamin Bernheim

French tenor Benjamin Bernheim, who recently performed at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics to millions of viewers, makes his Met role debut as the title character and leads a cast making important Met and role debuts in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, September 24–October 18. Last season, Bernheim sang the role of Roméo in the critically acclaimed run of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette.

Mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya makes her company debut in the double role of the Muse and Hoffmann's friend Nicklausse. Soprano Erin Morley revisits one of her signature roles, Olympia, a part for which she has been celebrated.

Both in their role debuts, soprano Pretty Yende returns to the Met for the first time since her performances as Marie in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment (2018–19 season) to portray Antonia and Stella, and mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine, who has performed the role of Carmen in three Met seasons, appears as Giulietta.

Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn makes his Met role debut as the Four Villains, following successful performances as a soloist on the Met Orchestra's first tour to Asia, and tenor Aaron Blake makes his Met role debut as the Four Servants. Marco Armiliato conducts Bartlett Sher's spellbinding production.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann is based on a play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré that itself draws upon three short stories by E.T. A. Hoffmann. The work, the only true opera by the famed composer of operetta, remained unfinished at Offenbach's death. It was presented at the Met for the first time on January 11, 1913, and has been performed 277 times by the company. Bartlett Sher's production premiered on December 3, 2009. The creative team includes set designer Michael Yeargan, costume designer Catherine Zuber, lighting designer James F. Ingalls, and choreographer Dou Dou Huang.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann Broadcasts on Radio and Online

The matinee performance of Les Contes d'Hoffmann on Saturday, October 5, will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the globe as part of The Met: Live in HD series.

The September 24 and October 18 performances of Les Contes d'Hoffmann will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on the SiriusXM app and streamed on the Met's website, metopera.org. Audio from the October 5 performance will also be re-aired over The Robert K. Johnson Foundation–Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network on January 4.

For further details on Les Contes d'Hoffmann, please click here.

Photo credit: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

To post a comment, you must register and login.