Hoffmann's Tales (1970)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Hoffmann's stories |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1970 |
| length | 136 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Walter Felsenstein (theater) Georg Mielke (film) |
| script | Walter Felsenstein |
| production | DEFA on behalf of the German TV broadcaster |
| music | Jacques Offenbach |
| camera | Otto Merz |
| cut | Thea Richter |
| occupation | |
| |
Hoffmann's Tales is a studio recording by DEFA , commissioned by the German TV broadcaster , of Walter Felsenstein's production of the opera of the same name in five acts by Jacques Offenbach at the Komische Oper Berlin .
action
Since this is the stage production, see: Hoffmann's stories
production
The arrangement by Walter Felsenstein is based on the libretto created by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré . The production premiered on January 25, 1958 at the Komische Oper Berlin, where it had already been shown in 175 performances by the time filming was completed. The orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin was under the direction of Karl-Fritz Voigtmann and Dieter Hänsel directed the choir soloists of the Komische Oper. The costumes were designed by Helga Scherff and the set was created by Reinhart Zimmermann , based on the set by Rudolf Heinrich .
The opera was recorded as a color film in the DEFA studios for feature films in Potsdam-Babelsberg. The film was shown in the cinema for the first time on December 11th in a festive preview at the Berlin Kino International . The first broadcast on television took place on December 26, 1970 in the 2nd program of the German television station .
A restored version from 2009 is available on DVD.
criticism
PB states in the New Germany :
"Rather, he (Felsenstein) used the special means and possibilities of camera, microphone and color in order to be able to exploit the humanistic content of the work even more deeply and to get closer to the spirit of Offenbach's conception than he was able to do on stage."
Manfred Meier writes in the Neue Zeit :
"The film confirms the musical and staging value of this internationally famous performance and, beyond its intrinsic artistic value, is a unique document of this direction by Walter Felsenstein."
The lexicon of international films writes that this is certainly a less attractive film, but rather a document through which Felsenstein's work visibly lives on. Ingenuity, rich equipment, good actor management, impressive crowd scenes and above all the outstanding performances of the singers are clearly shaped by his influence.
literature
- F.-B. Habel : The great lexicon of DEFA feature films . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-349-7 , pp. 253 to 254 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Neues Deutschland, December 12, 1970, p. 2
- ↑ Neues Deutschland, December 14, 1970, p. 5
- ↑ Neue Zeit of December 22, 1970, p. 4
- ↑ Hoffmann's stories. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 28, 2018 .