Schizophrenic reality show

The Virginia Opera’s sparkling new production of Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” (“The Tales of Hoffmann”) opened on Sept. 28 at the company’s home base in Norfolk. It arrives this weekend at its Northern Virginia venue, George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax.

E.T.A. Hoffmann was a real-life character, a famous poet and teller of tales in the early 19th century who was known for his almost Kafkaesque flights of fancy — and nearly as renowned for his epic bouts with the bottle. Offenbach’s opera takes advantage of this, seizing on one of Hoffmann’s drinking escapades as a jumping-off point for three fantastic tales, each exploring a different aspect of the artist’s ideal love. Every time, however, the hapless Hoffmann is foiled by one of the Four Villains, emanations of the Devil himself.

As Hoffmann, tenor Dan Snyder is the embodiment of the haunted storyteller with a tenuous grip on reality. Sure of himself only when fortified with a bottle, Mr. Snyder’s Hoffmann can’t make romance click in the “Twilight Zone” of his troubled mind. During the Sept. 30 matinee performance in Norfolk, Mr. Snyder’s instrument exhibited considerable power and breadth, although at times his vocal production seemed a trifle harsh.

As Hoffmann’s morphing opponents, bass Burak Bilgili was genuinely imposing, singing Offenbach’s bad guys with convincing menace while at the same time carefully differentiating among their diverse manifestations, ranging from a politician to a mad scientist.

Young French soprano Manon Strauss Evrard was surprisingly effective in her portrayal of each of Hoffmann’s love objects. This is no mean feat, given the extraordinary difficulty of singing the first of these characters, the bionic Olympia, who must nail a series of stratospheric coloratura figures while acting convincingly as a life-size robot. Miss Evrard performed the role brilliantly, displaying a flair for physical comedy as well. Nonetheless, she adjusted quickly to the more dramatic Antonia and the worldly Giulietta in the second and third acts.

In the trouser role of Hoffmann’s sidekick, protector and secret muse Nicklausse, mezzo-soprano Sonia Gariaeff was forceful yet unobtrusive until her dramatic final entrance and transformation into Hoffmann’s true Muse, helping make the Epilogue-Finale an emotional tour de force.

This company’s new production, with sets by the highly inventive Erhard Rom, re-imagines Hoffmann’s universe as a schizophrenic reality show whose worldly audience consists of Hoffmann’s drinking pals. It’s tremendously effective, although it allows minimal room for the dancers to maneuver.

The Virginia Opera’s orchestra, under the baton of longtime Artistic Director Peter Mark, produced a rich, romantic sound that underscored each singer’s talents.

Problems with the Sept. 28 performance were few but occasionally distracting. Most notable was the clear tempo disconnect between the initially offstage chorus and the orchestra in the Prologue. Fortunately, everyone seemed to have gotten it together by the middle of the first act — and, hopefully, any remaining ragged edges will have been worked out before the opening bars in Fairfax this weekend.

**

WHAT: Virginia Opera’s production of Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann”

WHEN: Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

WHERE: George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, Fairfax

TICKETS: $44 to $94

PHONE: 703/993-2787 or tickets.com at 888/945-2468.

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