Elizabeth – Opening night of Tales of Hoffmann at the Met started off a bit flat.  Perhaps it was the overhang muffling the sound from our Met lottery seats (score!), but I wasn’t feeling the usual excitement from the stage or the audience.  I saw Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance perform Tales of Hoffmann last year and absolutely adored it.   At that performance there was tons of energy right off the bat, so I was disappointed at the start of the Met’s Hoffman last night.  Topless women (with pasties) definitely helped lift the mood, though and perhaps it was first night jitters, but the opera really revved up as the night progressed.  

Once we moved past the prologue, the first act of Bartlett Sher’s production gathered steam.  Michael Yeargan’s sets, amazingly steep looking, were gorgeous.  The first act in Spalanzani’s workshop was visually quite a treat with a (creaky) giant eye rolling back and forth near the top of the stage, and a weird dragon snaking around a pole that also descended from the ceiling.  I think the eye was supposed to be rolling around throughout the scene, but it was making quite a bit of noise so I think it was halted.  Which was perfect as it cleared the way for Erin Morley playing Olympia, the doll.  She totally stole the act and was a delight as the wind up doll Hoffmann falls in love with.  Her voice was stunning and bright; I’m hopeful I’ll see more of her at the Met soon.  The dolls’ ballet fit beautifully with the scene.  I particularly enjoyed Dou Dou Huang’s choreography in Act one.  I also loved the umbrellas with eyeballs opening and spinning all over the stage—it was a spectacular touch to see robot eyes spinning everywhere. 

The second act was more severe with a wide open set, save a piano and sheer screens with trees drawn on them.  It set the somber tone for Hoffmann’s second story of past loves in which Antonia, a singer like her famous dead mother, dies after being urged by the evil Dr. Miracle to sing despite her weakened heart.  Hibla Gerzmava as Antonia was moving, and I also particularly enjoyed Tony Stevenson as Frantz, the servant, in this act.  He added some levity to what was an achingly sad story.  But finally we arrived in the most glamorous of Sher’s scenes, in Venetian courtesan Giulietta’s house in Venice.  More pasties and near nudity surrounded the stage and it seemed that the entire chorus was onstage.  The scenery was gorgeous, with giant lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a clear almost cellophane like curtain midway back on the stage near where gondolas passed by.   

Vittorio Grigolo as Hoffmann was the big surprise for me of the evening.  I am not that familiar with his work and really found myself loving his voice as did the audience.  And Kate Lindsey as the muse of poetry and Nicklausse was great.  Her voice was terrific, but I also really appreciated her acting and comedic timing.  My current baritone crush, Thomas Hampson, sounded a little light and I couldn’t help wondering if this role perhaps wasn’t quite the right fit for him.  Hopefully I’ll catch him in one of his recitals this summer.

Shawn – First off, we won the Met Rush Ticket online lottery very easily for $25 tickets.   On Monday, I logged into Metopera.org at 11:45am, clicked “Season & Tickets”, then “Ticket Offers” then the far left hand option “Met Rush Tickets”.  Right at noon, I reloaded the page, clicked “Buy Tickets” and voila, we had them.   It was super easy.  AND there were two empty seats next to me last night so obviously the $25 Rush Tickets did not sell out. 

So again just for the record, before noon on any weekday you wish to see a performance: 1) Go to Metopera.org.  2) Click “Season & Tickets” just below the opening page header.  3) Click “Ticket Offers” on the sub header that opens.  4) Click the left hand option of “Met Rush Tickets.”  And 5) Reload the page right at noon and the option to buy up to two $25 tickets should appear.  The availability of Rush Tickets will vary depending on the performance and day but this is the basic protocol that I found effective.

You DO need to have an account with Metopera.org but you can set that up for free very easily on the website.  You needn’t be a subscriber or donor or anything.  I hope this is helpful.  There has been some confusion on how to use the new lottery system. 

Okay, I am reasonably familiar with Tales of Hoffmann although it was not part of the tapestry of operas I saw frequently in my childhood so, like many other operas sadly, I am playing catch up with it a bit. 

First off this production is my favorite that I have seen of Bartlett Sher’s.  I loathed his productions of Elixir of Love and Le Comte Ory at the Met. This Hoffmann has a dark, dream-like quality without any of the highly self-conscious meta stuff that put me off in the two previous mentioned productions.  It is much more in the vein of his Two Boys although Two Boy was perhaps too minimalist, though I found highly effective.   Strangely this Hoffmann predates his Elixir, Ory and Two Boys.  It’s almost like he’s working backwards in some way.  But the strength of this Hoffmann does indicate why the Met has invested so much in Sher creatively.  I particularly liked the re-appearance of the dolls in act three.  It was as if the walls between the narratives were disintegrating and the tales were crumbling in on each other as Hoffmann’s mind, too, disintegrates. 

The singing was a touch uneven.  Kate Lindsey (my one and only real opera crush strangely enough) was excellent.  Erin Morley stood out as Olympia, though of course that is her scene to lose.  Vittorio Grigolo stood out far more to me as Hoffmann than in the Las Vegas Rigoletto we saw two years ago.  He really is eminently likable and a solid singer, even great at moments.  At many moments in fact, and he very much deserves his stardom.  But he is not electric and goose bump inducing for me.  Although that is much more a statement about the state of the art rather than Grigolo himself.  He truly gave his all last night and that, in and of itself, is exhilarating. 

I love Thomas Hampson and he is a fine, fine artist, but he was miscast as the Villains.  It pained me greatly to hear the tepid applause for Hampson at the final curtain calls and I hate to say it, but I think I heard a few boos for him.  There is often some very odd principal casting going on at the Met.  I don’t know why exactly.  Perhaps someone can tell me.