Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Offenbach Les Contes d'Hoffmann opera to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Direction by John Schlesinger. Stars Vittorio Grigòlo (Hoffmann), Thomas Hampson (Lindorf/Coppélius/Dapertutto/Miracle), Sofia Fomina (Olympia), Christine Rice (Giulietta), Sonya Yoncheva (Antonia), Kate Lindsey (Nicklausse/Muse), Christophe Mortagne (Spalanzani), Eric Halfvarson (Crespel), Vincent Ordanneau (Andrès/Cochenille/Pittichinaccio/Frantz), Catherine Carby (Spirit of Antonia's Mother), David Junghoon Kim (Nathanaël), Charles Rice (Hermann), Yuriy Yurchuk (Schlémil), Jeremy White (Luther), and Olga Sabadoch (Stella). Evelino Pidò conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Co-Concert Master Sergey Levitin) and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Director Wiliam Spaulding). Sets by William Dudley; costumes by Maria Björnson; lighting by David Hersey; choreography by Eleanor Fazan; fight direction by William Hobbs. Directed for TV by Johathan Haswell. Sung in French. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

This title appears to have a fine cast for time-honored traditional production of Les Contes. Here is the official YouTube clip:

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Here's news about high-definition video disc ("HDVD") recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, and paintings. In the journal below are independent (and hard-to-find critical) reports on hundreds of HDVDs. Pick the best titles for your excelsisphere.

Feb 25. We have just completed one of our most ambitious reviews: Einstein on the Beach opera, the surreal 4 and 1/2 hour cult legend. Kudos, encomiums, and accolades to Opus Arte for giving us this authoritative and weirdly fascinating recording, which we grade A+. Absorbing and learning Einstein is uniquely challenging. We try to help out by providing aids not included in the keepcase materials: an accurate libretto and a list of segments in the opera with correct Opus Arte time stamps. Good luck!

We have some other good grades with an A for the recent Met The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) and a B- for an earlier The Pearl Fishers from Naples. Also, we recently gave an A- for the new Don Quixote from the Vienna State Ballet.