This was recorded long before the discovery of the hundreds of additional pages of Offenbach’s score that has informed performances since the mid-1980s. In other words, it’s our parents’ Hoffmann, with the Giulietta act in the middle, etc. It’s a studio recording from 1965 that utilizes three different sopranos for the heroines and three bass-baritones for the four villains; it tapped into some of the greatest stars of the day just a bit past their primes. Nicolai Gedda remains a superb Hoffmann, exhibiting only a bit of strain in sustained high-lying passages. Gianna d’Angelo is an accurate, perky Olympia, doll-like enough not to be interesting but easy to appreciate, while Victoria de Los Angeles is a near-perfect Antonia, singing with that unique timbre filled with pathos.
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is pretty dreadful as Giulietta–arch and over-inflected as usual, but more than that, singing with an unappealing, squeezed tone. Ernest Blanc’s Dapertutto is superbly snide and suave, and he sings his big aria without transposing it down. George London is a creepy Coppelius and Miracle, but there’s no denying some effort in his higher singing. Nicolai Ghiuselev’s Lindorf is acceptable. The male Nicklausse is a bad idea. André Cluytens leads a show that could use more tension and energy, but his orchestra and (particularly) chorus perform admirably. The sound is too resonant. This is not a first choice–it’s more for fans of the individual singers. Hoffmann has come a long way since ’65 and several other recordings have since appeared that seriously eclipse this one.
