Hoffmann at Deutsche Oper Berlin

The boundaries between reality and fiction are blurred in Hoffmann's musical narratives. The poet conjures up in his mind three women, all of them representing radiant facets of one and the same beloved lady. The three are Olympia, a doll, Antonia, a woman suffering from a pulmonary illness, and Giulietta, a courtesan. The identity of the poet himself is as shaky as the contours of the world around him.

David Lynch is listed among the influences of the Amsterdam-based director, performer and magician, Jakop Ahlbom, and Lynch's presence is palpable in many of the Swede's works. Ahlbom creates magical and surreally nightmarish drama worlds that have been garnering rave reviews in the Netherlands since 2000 and were much talked about in 2010 in the Young Director’s Project section of the Salzburg Festival. Together with composer Anne Champert, whose credentials include Composer-in-Residence at the IRCAM in Paris, Ahlbom has come up with his own rendition of Hoffmann's world of dreams and nightmares.