Metropolitan Opera Archives

Wednesday night brought that old favorite "Les Contes d'Hoffmann," with a cast that was generally good, if by no means up to the standard of that of "Ernani." Nicolai Gedda, whose voice lacks velvet, though he is an excellent musician and has excellent French enunciation as well as a handsome appearance, was the Hoffmann. Reri Grist made one of the cutest mechanical dolls to be seen in a long time, and sang her lines accurately. I wish that her role had not been plagued by Cyril Ritchard's incorrigible habit, as director, of milking laughs. One spontaneous self-winding-up of Olympia's machinery is funny; the second falls flat. Rosalind Elias was certainly acceptable as Giulietta, and so was Pilar Lorengar as Antonia. Frederica von Stade made a very good Nicklausse, though her femininity betrayed her masculine costume more than once. The quadruple roles of Coppélius, Dappertutto, Lindorf, and Dr. Miracle were done by Gabriel Bacquier, a splendid actor, and if his baritone voice is not the most beautiful in the world, it is at least a powerful one. Paul Franke and Clifford Harvuot who were, incidentally, the only singers from past productions of "Hoffmann," performed expertly as Spalanzani and Schlemil. Paul Plishka was outstanding as Antonia's father, and Andrea Veils was effective in all four of his minor roles. A new conductor, Serge Baudo, didn't seem to arouse much tension. He proved to be what is usually described as a useful "routinier."

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