My Bachtrack review of the new Hoffmann cast at the Met

Audrey Luna as Olympia,
Matthew Polenzani as Hoffmann
(c) Cory Weaver/Metropolitan Opera

Bartlett Sher's 2009 Metropolitan Opera production of Les contes d'Hoffman was revived this season, opening on January 12 with a cast that included Vittorio Grigolo and Thomas Hampson. On February 28 a second, quite stunning cast took over. I hadn't seen Mr. Sher's production before, and I was struck by all the dream-like, almost absurdist visual references – Bedlam, carnival in Venice, Versailles – that worked together to emphasize Hoffmann's decline into madness, which clearly wasn't a long journey for him.
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