Les Contes d’Hoffmann
It was snowing heavily the whole day. At night time, although the snow stopped, it was icy everywhere on the street. The cold winds continuously blew, under the freezing night, the passengers were going home or going for a drink at a warm bar. At the moment, New Yorkers didn’t ask for too much, just one glass of punch can let people forget all the worries and the loneliness on this winter night.
Therefore, I went to the Met opera and joined another three thousand New Yorkers, hoping to get through the night with Hoffmann and his crowd at the bar.
Hoffmann, the alcoholic and writer lacking inspiration, irritated the senator Lindorf who was his rival in love for the opera prima donna Stella. The Muse, unable to bear the talented Hoffmann becoming poor and depressed because of the loss of love, turned into Hoffmann’s friend Nicklausse to allure Hoffmann with the beauty of art.
Alcohol, woman, inspiration. Aren’t these every artist’s sufferings and expectations?
Even though it was dark and freezing outside with cold winds blowing, the pub was crowded and noisy. Beer and punch, young men and scholars, artists and politicians, everyone was here to see the glamor of opera star Stella and the great writer Hoffmann.
When people saw the down and out Hoffmann, they teased him and asked him to sing a song to entertain the public. Hoffmann then sang “Légende de Kleinzach”. Kleinzach was a deformity with a hunch back and twisted limbs. However, Hoffmann made this song about this tragic character light and jocular. Hoffmann seemed to be welcoming this dwarf clown. The crowd was also singing and dancing to his song. While everyone was cheering for Kleinzach, Hoffmann’s tone suddenly changed. Hoffmann fell into his memory, and sang to everyone about his lover. Due to Hoffmann’s space out, we took a sneak peek into the beauty and attraction of his old lover. With the tease of Lindorf and the crowd, Hoffmann decided to pour out his romances to the public.
Hoffmann tore his old scar apart to the public and sang his love story out loud. Would his three love romances touch people’s hearts or just become a joke? A writer without inspiration was nothing different from a physical disability. Hoffmann knew this clearly as well. He was like the Kleinzach in his own song. In front of the drunk people at the pub, Hoffmann could even throw away his dignity, not to mention his private and valuable love memories.
Then Hoffmann brought us back to his memories. He put on the magic glasses from an unknown scientist. And we met his first lover Olympia. The perfect Olympia had perfectly fair skin, lovely brown eyes and rosy lips. The dimples of hers when she smiled were charming. Her pink gauzy dress was like a rose in spring, blossoming with youth and sweetness. This innocent Olympia sang the love song “Les oiseaux dans la charmille” for Hoffmann. Her voice was light and naughty, like the clouds in the blue sky, the winds jumping in the warm sunlight, and is the pulse of first love. Hoffmann was crazy about Olympia. He ignored the persuasion of Nicklausse, and confessed his love to Olympia. However, Olympia lost control during the ball, and shattered into pieces after the dance. Hoffmann also broke his glasses in the mess. At that moment, Hoffmann realized his lover was not human, but a mechanical doll. Olympia gave Hoffmann a huge blow, and he became hopeless in the tease and laughter of the crowd.
Everyone in love is seeing the world with Hoffmann’s magic glasses. These glasses could turn machines into humans, and dreams into reality. However, a mindless lover like this is like Olympia who had no spirits. She had a perfect look and attractive voice, but could not take any strikes. At the moment when Olympia was shattered, the glasses of Hoffmann’s also broke. He took down the glasses and took back the sense. Seeing his love break into pieces, Hoffmann could only sing his regret and sorrow out loud.
Hoffmann did not give up finding his true love. Following the song of love “Elle a fui, la tourterelle” of Antonia’s, Hoffmann came to his second lover. The beautiful and fragile Antonia, who had such an intriguing voice, cannot sing easily due to illness. Hoffmann insisted on protecting this love and would like to elope with Antonia. Nicklause reminded Hoffmann of his failed love with Olympia, and hoped to convince Hoffmann to give up on chasing for love but for eternal art. Hoffmann declined Nicklausse, and kept making the dream of love with Antonia by singing their duet “C’est une chanson d’amour”. But the devil came and bewitched Antonia. Antonia sang crazily to death until she became the cold dead body in Hoffmann’s arms.
Music, this beautiful and obsessive art. She allures humans with her beauty, and attracts admiration with her mystery. Once she comes to you, be aware, because the happiness would not last long. The enjoyable melodies give people expectations, but they always end. When the last note is played, you will understand the nice future is only a wish, and the love has already gone. The music ends and the lover leaves, all we have is the past moments in our head.
Hoffmann continued his journey for love. Under the night sky of Venice, we heard the pleasant and elegant Barcarolle “Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour”. The song under the starry night was like the gentle river water passing through the village, the harbor and the grand palace. In the palace, Nicklausse and Giulietta sang together towards their yearning for the night, and the true love. Tonight, Hoffmann was going to have a romance with the courtesan Giulietta. Giulietta was luring. In her scarlett dress and luxury jewels, Giulietta’s every move was a move of desire. With beauty and schemes, Giulietta had already made a deal with the magician Dapertutto: Giulietta traded Hoffmann’s reflection for a diamond of Dapertutto’s. The diamond on Giulietta’s neck was a trade with the devil, and a tragedy of Hoffmann’s. Giulietta took Hoffmann’s reflection in the mirror when she kissed Hoffmann. Hoffmann lost his reflection, and fell deeply into the obsession with Giulietta. He understood he had lost in the trap of love, but he couldn’t control his desire for Giulietta. He could die of the kiss from Giulietta. Hoffmann loved Giulitta, and hated Giulietta. He let himself fall into love, but he hated this love. Giulietta then sang to Hoffmann her love for him as well, however, she didn’t want to give up the shining diamond and luxury lifestyle. Giulietta then left with her new lover.
Diamond was truly women’s best friend. It lets women trade with the devil, and betray their conscience. In love, is it Giulietta’s fault to be a gold digger, or is it Hoffmann’s mistake to be too innocent again? Hoffmann never learned a lesson.
Suddenly, the memories stopped. We came back to the pub. Looking at the crowded people, the drunk Hoffmann sadly sang about the three women he loved: Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta. Nicklausse realized these three women represented different appearances of Stella’s: Innocent, artistic, and desirable. In the end, Stella chose to leave with Lindorf. Hoffmann lost his love again. He followed the music of Kleinzach, and sang out a new poem he just created for his heartbreaking moment. Hoffmann was deeply sad and depressed, and he dropped to the ground. Then the Muse appeared. She comforted Hoffmann with her soft voice. She encouraged him to grow in these failed love stories, and find his inspirations back. Hoffmann, at last, went back to the love of the Muse.
Therefore, three loves became one woman. Three times of heartbreaking romances created one brand new poem. This opera of Offenbach’s teaches women, and encourages men. Ladies, when you have the innocence of Olympia, the artistic of Antonia, and the desirableness of Giulietta, lovers will always follow. Gentlemen, when you are abandoned by love, the loss and sadness devours you, and when you praise and curse love, don’t be depressed. Let sorrow light up the fire of creativity. Because only when you have experienced the deepest pain brought by the greatest love, can you make the most touching creations.
Offenbach was famous for his operettas, and would like to compose a formal and serious opera in his later years. He was hoping that Les Contes d’Hoffmann could prove his ability to create such a great work. However, Offenbach passed away before finishing the whole masterpiece, and Les Contes d’Hoffmann became his swan song. Offenbach must have deeply believed in true love, and was deeply hurt by love as well. He put all his expectation and loss to life, and his last thoughts and effort to art on Hoffmann.
Offenbach of his late years was like Hoffmann. He was depressed due to the incompleteness of his achievements. He was lost due to the failure of possessing happiness. The punch could warm his body, but never his heart. The love and emotion always passed by, and never stayed. The loneliness in his soul, and the coldness in his mind could only be comforted by art.
Therefore, after watching Les Contes d’Hoffmann, we comforted our loneliness in the snow, and soothed the old scar hurting again due to the cold winds. Those memories we could not tell were empathized in the songs of Hoffmann. Those countless expectations and hesitation towards the future were ended with Hoffmann and his lovers.
The applause ceased. The Met Opera went back to peace. The curtains were closed. We drank up the hot wine in our hands, and let the burning heat alleviate the pain of heart breaking. Under the grand chandeliers of the Met, we put on our coats and gloves. Following the crowd, we went into the dark and cold night again.
霍夫曼的故事，我們的心中往事
某日上午，紐約大雪紛飛，到了傍晚，雖然大雪已停歇，街道仍冰雪堆積，寒風冷冽，路上的行人，在冰凍的夜色下，腳步匆匆，想必若不是在趕路回家，就是要找一處溫暖的小酒館喝一杯。這時，紐約人的要求並不多，一杯溫熱的潘趣，就可以讓人忘憂，忘記這冬日的寒冷與孤獨。
於是，我走到大都會歌劇院，加入其他三千多個紐約客，打算在霍夫曼的小酒館裡，和舞台上的作家與大學生們度過一個酒酣耳熱的夜晚。
霍夫曼，一個沈迷酒精，靈感短缺的落魄作家，因為戀上歌劇院首席女伶史黛拉，而惹怒了同樣愛慕史黛拉的參議員林道夫；美麗的繆思女神，因不忍心看才華洋溢的霍夫曼苦戀無果，生活不濟，且靈感盡失，於是化身為霍夫曼的好友尼克勞斯，希望以藝術之美誘惑霍夫曼，讓霍夫曼重回她的懷抱。
酒精，女人，靈感。這不就是一個藝術家日日夜夜的掙扎與期盼？
縱使外頭天氣酷寒，黑夜籠罩，寒風呼嘯，小酒館仍人聲鼎沸。啤酒與潘趣，年輕人與學者，藝術家與政客，此刻都匯聚在此，等著一睹劇院明星史黛拉的風采，順便看看這位大作家霍夫曼的光臨。
眾人看到落魄的霍夫曼，起鬨要他來唱首歌，娛樂娛樂等得不耐煩的酒客。霍夫曼於是唱起“克萊札克的故事”，唱起一位名叫克萊札克的侏儒，駝背且四肢扭曲，形體怪異且頭部畸形，說也奇怪，本來該是一個悲劇的人物，霍夫曼卻唱得輕快詼諧，似乎在歡迎這位侏儒小丑，眾人也隨之起舞，正當所有人隨歌曲為克萊札克歡呼時，旋律突然轉變，霍夫曼似乎掉進回憶裡，唱起往日戀人的樣貌與神情。因為霍夫曼的失神，讓我們一窺這位作家心中戀人的美麗臉龐與綽約風姿，但是眾人的嘲弄不止，林道夫的冷言諷刺，讓霍夫曼決定道出自己的過往戀情。
霍夫曼在眾人面前自揭舊瘡疤，如創作般唱出自己的愛情故事，這三段刻骨銘心的悲劇愛情，對小酒館的人群而言，是感同身受？抑或是冷眼看待？一個作家失去藝術靈感，在旁觀者眼中，跟一個殘缺的凡人並無不同；霍夫曼自己也心知肚明，他就如自己歌曲中的克萊札克，在酒館的諸多隻眼睛之前，連自尊都可以拋開了，更何況是把最私密珍貴的愛情回憶攤在眾人面前呢？
於是，霍夫曼帶著我們走進他的記憶，戴上科學家送他的魔法眼鏡，來見這第一位傷他至深的戀人奧萊匹雅。完美無瑕的奧萊匹雅，皮膚雪白，有著褐色大眼與玫瑰色嘴脣，微笑時粉嫩雙頰的酒窩，讓人憐愛；她身穿粉紅紗裙，如同春日的一朵薔薇，綻放著青春與甜美。這位純真的奧萊匹雅，為霍夫曼唱出天真的初戀，她的歌聲輕盈頑皮，是蔚藍天空中輕柔的雲朵，是和煦陽光下跳躍的微風，也是女孩初識戀情的悸動。霍夫曼為她著迷，為她癡狂，不顧好友尼克勞斯的勸告，對奧萊匹雅表白，卻不料奧萊匹雅在舞會中失控，一陣狂舞之後遭摔碎成零件，霍夫曼也在混亂中摔碎的自己的魔法眼鏡，這時，他才看清自己的戀人，原來，奧萊匹雅並不是人，而只是一個能歌能舞的機器娃娃。霍夫曼深受打擊，在眾多賓客的嘲笑之下深深絕望。
所有的戀人都透過霍夫曼的眼鏡在看世界，這副浪漫的眼鏡，能把機器變成真人，把夢想變成現實，把一切虛幻變為真愛。但是，這樣純真的愛情，這樣一位毫無心思的戀人，如沒有靈魂的奧萊匹雅，外表無瑕，歌聲誘人，卻不堪一擊，在奧萊匹雅碎裂的同時，霍夫曼的眼鏡也被摔碎，他摘下眼鏡，也喚醒理智，看到沈迷的戀情破碎，只能心痛高吼著絕望與悔恨。
但是，霍夫曼並未放棄尋找真愛，隨著安東妮亞的悲傷的愛之歌，他來到慕尼黑找到自己的第二位戀人。美麗的安東妮亞，精緻又脆弱，擁有美妙歌聲卻因重病而無法輕易歌唱，霍夫曼堅持維護真愛，要和安東妮亞遠走高飛，尼克勞斯見狀，再次提醒霍夫曼上次跟奧萊匹雅的失敗戀情，希望霍夫曼放棄尋找短暫的愛情，改投身永恆的藝術創作。霍夫曼依舊不理會，用與安東妮亞深情的二重唱，編織兩人的愛情美夢。病重的安東妮亞，在魔鬼的誘惑下不禁發狂高歌，最後病發身亡，成為霍夫曼懷中美麗冰冷的遺體。
音樂，這美麗迷人的藝術，用她的美好誘惑人心，用她的神秘吸引愛慕，當她對你伸出雙手時，你就要當心了，因為這樣的欣喜總不會長久。動聽的旋律給人無限期待，卻總有結束之時，在最後一個音符完結的那一刻，美好的未來只是憧憬，從前嚮往的戀情已成追憶，曲終人散，我們只能回想與戀人曾經的美好時光。
霍夫曼，繼續找尋真愛。於是，在高雅的威尼斯夜空下，我們聽到義大利人愜意優美的船歌，音樂在璀璨星光下，如輕柔流動的波光粼粼，流過小鎮，流過港口，流過華麗的宮廷。宮廷內，尼克勞斯和朱麗葉塔隨著旋律共同唱出對夜晚的嚮往，對愛情的期待。這次，霍夫曼和要高級妓女朱麗葉塔共譜戀曲。朱麗葉塔美麗動人，在鮮紅色禮服與華麗珠寶的襯托下，一舉一動都是誘惑，都是欲望；不過，她早已接受和魔術師達沛圖托的交易，用一顆鑽石換取霍夫曼的鏡中倒影。朱麗葉塔胸前的鑽石項鍊，是魔鬼的交易，也是霍夫曼的悲劇。朱麗葉塔善於誘惑，霍夫曼自然渴望朱麗葉塔的吻。於是，朱麗葉塔用一個吻成功得到霍夫曼的倒影，也因此將鑽石占為己有。霍夫曼失去倒影，同時深陷對朱麗葉塔的迷戀，他明白自己已經迷失在愛情的陷阱，卻依舊壓抑不了對朱麗葉塔的欲望，情願死於朱麗葉塔的熱吻；他愛朱麗葉塔，也恨朱麗葉塔，他縱容自己陷入愛情，卻也痛恨愛情；朱麗葉塔對霍夫曼訴說自己的情意，卻不願為霍夫曼放棄光芒萬丈的美鑽與紙醉金迷的上流生活，最終和新歡離去。
鑽石，不愧是女人最好的朋友啊！讓女人願意與魔鬼交易，與良心悖離。愛情之中，究竟是霍夫曼太天真，還是朱麗葉塔太現實？從未學會教訓的霍夫曼，竟愛上善變的交際花；天性沈迷誘惑男人的朱麗葉塔，豈能放過這筆輕鬆的買賣？
此時，回憶嘎然而止，我們又回到小酒館，看著圍觀舉杯的群眾與爛醉的霍夫曼，霍夫曼悲傷的唱完自己深愛的三個女人：奧萊匹雅，安東妮亞，朱麗葉塔。尼克勞斯此時恍然大悟，這三個女人，其實各自代表霍夫曼的夢中情人史黛拉的部分面貌：純真，藝術，風流。霍夫曼絕望看著史黛拉選擇跟隨林道夫，再度失戀的他悲傷至極，跟著侏儒克萊札克的旋律唱出新的詩句後，悲痛的倒臥在地。謬斯女神現形，以溫柔的歌聲撫慰霍夫曼，作家在失敗的戀情中成長，在悲傷中找回靈感。霍夫曼，最後仍回到謬斯女神的懷抱。
三段戀情，一個女人；三次心碎，一章嶄新的詩篇。奧芬巴赫的歌劇，教會了女人，也鼓舞了男人。女士們，當妳擁有奧萊匹雅的青春純真、安東妮亞的藝術才華、朱麗葉塔的風流不羈，戀人愛慕的眼光將如影隨形；男士們，當你被戀人拋棄，失落與悲傷將你吞噬，當你讚揚愛情，也詛咒愛情之時，別灰心，讓這悲痛重燃你創作的火炬，因為只有曾經感受世上最美麗的愛情和她所帶來的痛徹心扉之人，才能寫出打動人心的美麗詩篇。
一向以喜歌劇享譽名利的奧芬巴赫，在晚年並不滿意自己的成就，總認為自己欠缺一部嚴肅正經的作品，因此希望以這齣霍夫曼的故事證明自己有能力寫出足以傳世的不朽名作，卻在完成全劇之前病逝，霍夫曼的故事也成為奧芬巴赫的天鵝之歌。奧芬巴赫肯定是相信真愛之人，他肯定用情至深，也肯定受傷至深，他把對藝術的期待與失落，對人生的感觸與將死之前的進取之心，全寄託在霍夫曼的身上。
老年的奧芬巴赫，是自己筆下的霍夫曼，因為創作的缺口被不斷放大而鬱鬱寡歡，因為失戀的傷口不斷被揭發而屢屢傷悲。再多的潘趣，也只能暖身；再熱切的情意表白，也只能換來一吻離別。靈魂的寂寞，內心的孤冷，大約也只能藉創作得到些許慰藉吧。
於是，我們在聽完霍夫曼的故事後，稍稍安慰了自己冬日的孤獨，撫慰了近日被冷風喚醒，隱隱作痛的舊傷口。從前太多說不出口的回憶，今夜在霍夫曼多情的歌聲中感同身受；往後的無限期待與彷徨，舞台上的霍夫曼與他的戀人們已經為你唱出結局。
掌聲停歇，歌劇院漸漸恢復平靜，舞台布幕闔上，我們一口飲盡杯中熱酒，讓這胸口的灼熱減緩了心碎的痛楚；歌劇院華麗的水晶燈下，我們衣帽手套穿戴整齊，跟著人群，再次走進冷冽的漆黑冬夜。
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