LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN (The Tales of Hoffmann) to Open The Met's 2024–25 Live in HD season

Offenbach's fantastical final work, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), opens the Metropolitan Opera's 2024–25 Live in HD season on Saturday, October 5, at 1PM ET. French tenor Benjamin Bernheim, who recently performed at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics to millions of viewers, makes his Met role debut as the title character and leads a cast making important Met and company role debuts. Last season, Bernheim sang the role of Roméo in the critically acclaimed run of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette.

Soprano Erin Morley revisits one of her signature roles, Olympia, a part for which she has been celebrated. Mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya makes her company debut in the double role of the Muse and Hoffmann's friend Nicklausse.

Both in their Met role debuts, soprano Pretty Yende returns to the Met for the first time since her performances as Marie in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment (2018–19 season) to portray Antonia and Stella, and mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine, who has performed the title role of Bizet's Carmen in three Met seasons, including in the 2019 Live in HD transmission, appears as Giulietta.

Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn makes his Met role debut as the Four Villains, following successful performances as a soloist on the Met Orchestra's first tour to Asia last summer, and tenor Aaron Blake makes his Met role debut as the Four Servants.

Marco Armiliato conducts Bartlett Sher's spellbinding production, which first premiered at the Met on December 3, 2009. The creative team includes set designer Michael Yeargan, Costume Designer Catherine Zuber, lighting designer James F. Ingalls, and choreographer Dou Dou Huang.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann is based on a play by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré that itself draws upon short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann. The work, the only true opera by the famed composer of operetta, remained unfinished at Offenbach's death. It was presented at the Met for the first time on January 11, 1913, and has been performed 277 times by the company prior to this season.

The Met: Live in HD, the award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts now in its 18th season, is available in more than 1,800 theaters in 60 countries this season.

Gary Halvorson will direct the Live in HD presentation for cinemas, and tenor Ben Bliss will host the transmission, sharing exclusive behind-the-scenes content and interviews during the intermissions. Bliss will star in the upcoming transmission of Jeanine Tesori's Grounded on October 19.

The Stars of Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Marco Armiliato, conductor; Genoa, Italy

Erin Morley, Olympia; Salt Lake City, Utah

Pretty Yende, Antonia/Stella; Piet Retief, South Africa

Clémentine Margaine, Giulietta; Narbonne, France

Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Nicklausse/Muse; Moscow, Russia

Benjamin Bernheim, Hoffmann; Paris, France

Aaron Blake, Four Servants; Palos Verdes, California                                                     

Christian Van Horn, Four Villains; Rockville Centre, New York

For further details on Les Contes d'Hoffmann, please click here.

The 2024–25 Live in HD season continues with Jeanine Tesori's Grounded (October 19), Puccini's Tosca (November 23), Verdi's Aida (January 25), Beethoven's Fidelio (March 15), Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (April 26), Strauss's Salome (May 17), and Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (May 31). All performances will be Saturday matinees transmitted live from the Met stage.

Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera

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