Contes D’Offman (Tales of Hoffman)

I’d just like to say that my first real time attending an Opera went above and beyond my expectations. I do enjoy classical music, but I originally had a predetermined negative feeling towards Opera. I don’t know why; I think it’s because I thought that loud bellowing voices would be too superfluous for my taste. Tales of Hoffman though, hit that perfect balance of traditional Opera with contemporary singing, scenery, and acting. I thought that once the lights would dim, I would go into a passive mode, but surprisingly, I was thoughtful engaged with my eyes darting from subtitles to stage. Not to mention being excited that I understood at least 40% of what was being said, having taken french in high school.

I felt like my mind was playing optical tricks on me with regard to one thing: the slant of the stage. Was it just me or was the stage slanted towards the audience? But then I figured, that couldn’t be, because the actors would be sliding towards us. Or maybe they just had really good balance.

The whole atmosphere of the audience in conjunction with the Opera transported me back to the 1890s-1900s. I could feel the glitz and glamor, the gossip, and the attire. Even sitting in the back orchestra section, my eyes could moved from men in tuxedos to women with dresses, beads and jewels, and it was topped off with the show the looked like it was straight from the set of Gangs of New York. On another note, I did like how over the top Olympia’s costume and the scene in which she acted was, it mirrored how playful her character was. The bright colors, swirling sun and twisting dragon stair case drew me into the scene just as they drew in Hoffman; but they also mimicked her desire for attention. Also, it made me feel like I was standing in a Juicy Couture store.

Watching the Opera in its entirety made me realize just how brilliant the writers were. Operas include some of the best story lines, the fact that they are this complex, insightful and unpredictable makes me further my affirmation that today’s movies are relatively simple. To only so many words, if you appreciate this art form to its fullest every subtly of the performance will speak to you, and your ability to digest the content will just amaze you.

Of course, this Opera speaks to my generation. In fact it can speak to any generation. When one thinks of love one often thinks of sappy romance quotes, happy endings, chocolate, candy, rainbows, dreams coming true, you get the point, whatever floats your boat. This Opera thought, exposed the humor and irony with regard to finding the “perfect” guy/girl. First of all, Hoffman was trying to find his own outset for loneliness though the girls Olympia, Giulietta, and Antonia. But the overarching point was that it was actually the muse pulling the strings and trying to get Hoffman to focus his attention on her, poetry. Where many can see three isolated love stories with various amounts of bad luck, I see lessons to be learned. In the first one, we can see how one can become blinded in the quest for finding true beauty that one may not see how fake/shallow that person can be. In the second story, we see that of course that parents (especially fathers in this case) provide a stumbling block for pursuit of talents and romance. In the third one, we see how easily people are swayed to do devious things by material possessions,  in this case a big shiny diamond. And last but not least, I learned, that drinking really does solve everything.