Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Full Score (Dover Opera Scores)

Offenbach, Jacques

ISBN 10: 0486494675 / ISBN 13: 9780486494678

Published by Dover Publications, 2014

About this Item

Fast Free Shipping â Good condition. It may show normal signs of use, such as light writing, highlighting, or library markings, but all pages are intact and the book is fully readable. A solid, complete copy that's ready to enjoy.

Seller Inventory # GWV.0486494675.G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Les Contes d'Hoffmann in Full Score (Dover Opera Scores)
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486494675
• ISBN 13: 9780486494678
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

This is the last of nearly 100 operettas created by French composer Jacques Offenbach, a native of Germany whose works were most prominent in the latter half of the nineteenth century. His three-act drama Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), which includes a prologue and epilogue, recounts dramatic stories of passion, murder, and revenge. Left incomplete at the composer's death, the operetta debuted in 1881 and remains popular to this day for its many memorable melodies.
A masterpiece of French Romanticism, Les Contes d'Hoffmann embodies Offenbach's wish to transcend the limitations of his popular operettas and achieve success among the lofty heights of grand opera. This imaginative score presents an artful blend of fantasy, emotion, and the supernatural as well as elements of satire and the grotesque. Hoffmann, the narrator and protagonist, relates three stories to his drinking companions. The tales concern Olympia, who is revealed as a mechanical doll; Antonia, a gifted vocalist in danger of singing herself to death; and Giulietta, a Venetian courtesan who uses a magic mirror to purloin others' reflections. Reproduced from an authoritative score, this edition offers musicians and music lovers a modestly priced edition of Offenbach's enduring work.

About the Author

Jacques Offenbach (1819–80) was an originator of the operetta form. His burlesques of grand opera combined political and cultural satire and enjoyed enormous popularity from their debuts to the present.