Tales of Hoffman is an opera that even a mediocre performance is enjoyable. I have seen much better performances than this DVD, although for the most part I would rate this one "adequate". Nobody seemed inspired except Domingo, the audio from the 1981 production is not up to todays standards (or even the standards of the 1980s), and some of the "creative" ideas of this production didn't work.

I'm no critic of voice. My favorite singer has always been Fischer-Deskau, though I like Domingo. So, when it comes to opera, I usually focus on the conductor and his (or her) performance of the work and hope that the singers know what they're doing, too, which they usually do if the conductor does, at least it seems so. George Pretre is a renowned conductor of French music, especially Offenbach and Ravel, etc., so the present performance of Hoffmann's tales is very good, indeed. He uses the standard version which switches the last two acts around, and I can't really see that it matters that much which version is used, as long as everything is done as well as it is here by the British Royals of Covent Garden. Domingo seems to be in good voice, and his acting is fine, as are all the supporting cast. Again, I can't comment on the singing per se, but it sounds good to me. In sum, a very entertaining, no, exciting, interesting performance. Good sound, decent video quality.

I first saw this video when I bought a performance on Beta-HiFi many years ago. The production was very good, but the sound was pretty dim. Some years later, I up-graded to a Pioneer LaserDisc (remember them, anyone?) which had such bad sound that I wrote a nasty-gram to Pioneer about it. I am very happy to report that the abysmal sound of the earlier incarnations of this video has finally been corrected on the Kultur DVD, making the performance a pleasure to listen to as well as watch. For those only interested in the latest, scholarly thoughts on "Hoffmann", you won't get them here, since it's a traditional reading (e.g., the order of the acts has Giuletta before Antonia), but I still found it very compelling.

This is one of my son's favorite opera. He thinks it is sooo funny. The Hoffman (played by Domingo)character falls in love with a doll. Only, he doesn't know it's a doll. He thinks he's falling in love with a beautiful young lady with a beautiful voice. Great opera! You will not be disappointed.

Mr. Placido Domingo is perhaps the most exciting operatic actor-singer
of our generation and once again he proves it in this wonderful opera; his three great loves (Baltsa, Cotrubas, Serra), his rivals and the rest
of the crew--unforgettable!