The Doctor, The Doll and The Devil: Phantasmagoria in Offenbach's Les Contes D'hoffmann
Session
Education and Development
Description
Jacques Offenbach's opera Les contes d'Hoffmann was premiered posthumously in 1881 and is, besides his operettas, the composer's most popular work. Its libretto is based on several tales by the German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann. This paper explores the fantasy and horror elements of the opera, placing special emphasis on the characters of the "four villains", as well as the episodes of the mechanical doll Olympia and the singer Antonia. The "villains" of acts 2-4 appear as the devil-like alter egos of the elderly Conseiller Lindorf from the prologue. Olympia, on the other hand, is an automaton (and thus, a 19th century predecessor of AI) that Hoffmann falls in love with, and Antonia a young woman of ill health, chased to death by the diabolical Docteur Miracle, who evokes, in an ombra scene, her dead mother's voice prompting her to sing.
Keywords:
Fantasy, Horror, Automaton, AI, Ombra scene
Proceedings Editor
Edmond Hajrizi
ISBN
978-9951-982-15-3
Location
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Start Date
25-10-2024 9:00 AM
End Date
27-10-2024 6:00 PM
DOI
10.33107/ubt-ic.2024.129
Recommended Citation
Tschapka, Lothar, "The Doctor, The Doll and The Devil: Phantasmagoria in Offenbach's Les Contes D'hoffmann" (2024). UBT International Conference. 16.
https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/conference/2024UBTIC/ED/16
The Doctor, The Doll and The Devil: Phantasmagoria in Offenbach's Les Contes D'hoffmann
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Jacques Offenbach's opera Les contes d'Hoffmann was premiered posthumously in 1881 and is, besides his operettas, the composer's most popular work. Its libretto is based on several tales by the German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann. This paper explores the fantasy and horror elements of the opera, placing special emphasis on the characters of the "four villains", as well as the episodes of the mechanical doll Olympia and the singer Antonia. The "villains" of acts 2-4 appear as the devil-like alter egos of the elderly Conseiller Lindorf from the prologue. Olympia, on the other hand, is an automaton (and thus, a 19th century predecessor of AI) that Hoffmann falls in love with, and Antonia a young woman of ill health, chased to death by the diabolical Docteur Miracle, who evokes, in an ombra scene, her dead mother's voice prompting her to sing.