Produced in collaboration with Opera Studio Nederland
Opera Studio Nederland invited Corina van Eijk and her entire "Spanga team" of designers to present Jacques Offenbach's last opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann as De Zaak Hoffmann (The Hoffmann Case). This provided a unique opportunity for people to see the much discussed work of Opera Spanga outside the limits of the Frisian village of Spanga.
The poet Hoffmann is captivated by Stella, who sings Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. In the theater lounge during the intermission of the opera performance, Hoffmann's friends talk him into telling about his love affairs with Olympia, Antonia and Guillietta. Stella's attributes are united in these three women . We wander through the caverns of Hoffmann's soul. He narrates in a dream language in which fantasy appears to be reality. At the end of his story-telling the intoxicated Hoffmann sees Stella walk away arm in arm with his rival, Lindorf. Hoffmann has no option other than to re-dedicate himself to art, under the inspirational guidance of his Muse.
