Kaye and Giroud combine their years of extensive research to discuss how Hoffmann’s work became known and influential in France. The book includes little-known sources for the
opera, describes the genesis of the opera, and reconstructs composer Jacques Offenbach’s final intentions for the production. The annotated comparative libretto is published in full according
to the integral edition of Kaye and Keck, with all of the variants for the two versions of the opera, with spoken dialogue or recitatives. Essays explain recent restoration attempts by Walter
Felsenstein, Otto Maag, Richard Bonynge, Antonio de Almeida, and Fritz Oeser. The book ends with a survey of Les contes d’Hoffmann in
performance from the 1970s to the present, including discography and videography.
