Cast
Barrie Kosky — Stage director
Felicity Lott — Soprano
Enrique Mazzola — Conductor
Laurent Pelly — Stage director
Michele Spotti — Conductor
Yann Beuron — Tenor
Serge Dorny — Director
Christoph Gay — Baritone
Program notes
On June 20, 2019, music lovers everywhere gave raucous celebration for the 200th birthday of Jacques Offenbach, one of the undisputed masters of the operetta. Filmmaker Reiner E. Moritz pays tribute to the legendary composer with this fascinating documentary, whose title is a nod to the famed Tales of Hoffmann, one of Offenbach's most beloved works. Through interviews with different artists and professionals of the music stage, Moritz highlights the mordant wit and critical eye that characterize the composer's output.
Tales of Offenbach takes up Offenbach's considerable contribution to the comic opera genre and spotlights some of the recurrent themes in his oeuvre: the emancipation of women, the nouveau riche, the standards of morality (and lack thereof) in the court of Napoleon III… Laurent Pelly, who has staged a number of the composer's operettas, also discusses the role of "melancholy, gravity, darkness, and sadness" in his work, and singers like Felicity Lott and Christophe Gay who have enjoyed singing Offenbach's roles provide sparkling commentary.
