Last night I watched the Met production of Offenbach's Tales Of Hoffman on PBS-TV:
I don't know much about Hoffman (played by Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja) himself, except that he was a real 19th-century German poet/musician/artist.
Always rowdy and a bit weird, this zany Fellini-like production included the androgynous muse (Kate Lindsey), topless ladies dancing with dwarves, guys making out with mannequins, an incredible coloratura performance of the singing "doll" (Korean soprano Kathleen Kim) in Act I (seen by Hoffman through his rose-colored glasses), and much more craziness from the 19th century, perhaps a precursor to French and German cabaret.
This opera, as you may know, is probably most famous musically for its second (or third?) act barcarolle, probably one of the best known pieces in all of opera. I browsed up half a dozen or more performances, of which the following was my favorite variant, as done by Romanian opera sisters, Irina and Christina Iordachescu:
Keep on an eye on your local PBS station and don't miss this production when it inevitably reruns.
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