As the dress rehearsal concludes, the actors discuss their performances:
(Greta Wundermann) “I… it's like I really felt like Olympia… an empty doll… I was scared!”
(Vicente Araiza embraces her.) “Such a tale! You were amazing, my dear! The greatest performance I have ever seen!”
(Valentina Ricci) “What's up, Vicente? Rekindling an old flame?”
“Uh! Valentina, I…”
(Caleb Lost) “That'll be enough for tonight. Congratulations, everyone.”
“You have drained us of all energy, Mr. Lost. The truth is that you played divinely.” (Ironic, since Caleb is an angel.)
“Thank you.”
(Repin) “But you take too many liberties with this opera!”
“I beg your pardon, Mr. Coppelius?” (One of the four villain roles that Repin plays in the opera)
“My name is Fyodor Repin! And you rearranged the libretto! The second scene should not be that of Olympia and Coppelius, but of Giulietta and Dappertutto! However, I find that one here, in last place! And this music! What music is this? I've never heard it!” (Repin thumbs furiously through the operatic score.)
(Caleb) “As Mr. Morin knows better than I: Giulietta’s act, as it has been depicted for more than a century, was not written by Offenbach.”
(Georges Morin) “That is true. It was not performed in the nineteenth century, and, when the manuscript of the score burned, a twentieth century composer, Raoul Gunsbourg, rewrote it from scratch. But apart from the barcarolle and little else, Offenbach's original music for that act no longer exists! Who wrote this stuff? It's… it's magnificent!”
“You are a true connoisseur, Mr. Morin. This is Offenbach's original music! Here are the parts, gentlemen. We will learn them together in the next few days!”
(Georges) “I do not understand! I… “
(Vicente) “Who will direct this opera, Mr. Lost? Why haven't we met the conductor yet?”
“You will meet him. He is the only one who can best direct this music, and this achievement has been his greatest ambition for a long time!”
I'm a bit surprised the rehearsal is in full costumes and makeup since we're apparently days before the actual performance. A normal theatrical production requires an army of stage crew for scenery, costumes, makeup, etc. Are the actors handling all that themselves? They would find it odd. Nikolaus could scare up some spoks to handle that work, but that too might seem odd to the performers.
There are in fact two famous fires associated with this opera. On May 25, 1887, as mentioned above, the prominent Paris opera house Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique burned, killing 84 people and destroying various artifacts including Offenbach's manuscript for "Tales of Hoffmann," which had debuted at that theater in 1881.
The other fire was on December 8, 1881 at the Ringtheater in Vienna, where "Tales of Hoffman" was being staged. An explosion in the gas lighting system caused both fire and darkness. The emergency lighting failed, and the resulting audience stampede prevented the external doors, which swung inward, from being openable. At least 400 (and perhaps far more) of the 1700 attendees perished, including Ladislaus Vetsera, uncle of Mary Vetsera, teen lover of Prince Rudolf of Austria, whose tragic story we surveyed in Martin Mystère #410. Sigmund Freud had intended to attend the performance as well but did not make it there. The fire and subsequent investigation led to numerous safety features for future theaters, including flame-retardant curtains and a dedicated safety officer to oversee evacuations.
A "barcarolle" is a traditional folk song style associated with the gondoliers of Venice. Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour ("Lovely night, O night of love") from "Tales of Hoffmann" is one of the most famous examples, in a scene set in Venice. Here is a COVID-era performance, so the orchestra wears masks. Click on the link; you may be surprised to recognize the melody, though you probably didn't know its origin. At least, I didn't.
