Berlin (MH) – The tenor Pene Pati, who comes from Samoa, was stormily celebrated in Berlin for his role debut in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann”. When the curtain fell on Sunday evening after the premiere of Jacques Offenbach’s fantastic opera in the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the audience gave the singers and the orchestra a lively applause. There was also applause for director Lydia Steier, who will take over as director of the Ruhrtriennale in November 2026. The French-Swiss conductor Bertrand de Billy was at the podium of the Staatskapelle.
“Les Contes d’Hoffmann”
In Steyer’s colorful production, a co-production with the MusikTheater an der Wien and the Teatr Wielki Warsaw, Pati radiantly embodies the main character, who is modeled on the romantic poet ETA Hoffmann. He has numerous adventures on stage: Hoffmann falls in love with the mechanical doll Olympia, with the music-loving Antonia, who follows her mother into the afterlife, and with the seductive courtesan Giulietta. Offenbach and his librettist Jules Barbier were inspired by three of the poet’s stories – “The Sandman”, “Rat Krespel” and “The Lost Mirror Image”.
As Olympia, Serena Sáenz impressed with her clear-as-a-bell soprano. Julia Kleiter sang the role of Antonia touchingly, and Sonja Herranen was convincing as Giulietta. The four roles of Lindorf, Coppélius, Dr. The Italian bass Roberto Tagliavini mastered Miracle and Dapertutto.
The central setting for Offenbach’s opera is the vaulted cellar of the Lutter & Wegner wine bar, which is located a few hundred meters from the State Opera on Gendarmenmarkt. After the original building was destroyed in the Second World War, the restaurant was reopened in 1997 on the exact spot where ETA Hoffmann’s home once stood. Steier transformed the wine cellar into a dive bar in bright neon green.
Pati, who has been enjoying a rapid, global career for several years, made his debut at the State Opera in 2022 as Alfredo in Giuseppe Verdi’s “La traviata”. In the same year he sang the title role in Mozart’s opera “Mitridate, re di Ponto” under the direction of Marc Minkowski. Pati sings Hoffmann in the current premiere series at the State Opera. Next spring the Frenchman Benjamin Bernheim will take on the leading role.
© MUSIC TODAY. All rights reserved – information about Copyright
(ck/wa)
➜ More articles about the Berlin State Opera
Link:
➜
