Tales of Hoffmann at Theatr Hafren, Newtown, Powys

Sep 5 2008 By David Hart

Pity the producer charged with mounting Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. Play the three stories in the opera as straightforward flashbacks, or treat the whole thing as a nightmarish fantasy?

Tim Hopkins has chosen the latter and, with designer Anthony Baker, created a stunner. This new Mid Wales Opera production is original in conception, packed with visual interest, and stunningly executed, especially by Keith Darling’s tidy ten-piece orchestra. It’s also hauntingly dramatic, and like all vivid dreams makes us believe completely in what we are experiencing.

Economically staged on a single set with few props but lots of inventive twists (including Robert Wallbank’s moody lighting), the drama unfolds in turn from Hoffmann’s garret, where we first see him slumped over a modern typewriter, to the various locations of the stories drawn from his alcohol-fuelled imagination.

Contemporary touches aside (the use of video images adds little to the symbolism of the piece) the performance sticks to tradition. Hoffmann’s four women are sung by one soprano, and the same bass-baritone portrays his four rivals, although in this touring show the parts are double-cast, as is Hoffmann himself.

On Wednesday Christopher Steele made a convincingly tortured, robustly sung Hoffmann, matched by an equally impressive Dean Robinson as the various villains of the piece. And Carolyn Dobbin, a mezzo of great warmth and clarity, in the roles of Nicklaus and Hoffmann’s Muse displayed none of the shortcomings a preliminary announcement had led us to expect.

First-night star, however, was soprano Catherine May, who delivered the famous Doll Song with a finely gauged, hard-edged brilliance and then, in Antonia’s Tale, sang a vibrant opening aria that conveyed all the character’s frailty without sacrificing vocal quality.

* Running time: Two hours 45 minutes. Further performances tonight and tomorrow, then on tour until November, including The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury (01684 295074), Sep 13; Music Hall, Shrewsbury (01743 281281), Sep 30; Palace Theatre, Redditch (01527 65203), Oct 4; Assembly Rooms, Ludlow (01584 878141), Oct 17/18; Courtyard Theatre, Hereford (01432 346500), Nov 5.