the stingy ruler making money on the side through real estate, the enforced bigamy, the casino scheme to get out of debt; any one or perhaps two of these plots would have been more than sufficient for a plot, an
ThroughoutThe Tales of Hoffmann, the jolts of color are so vivid that even the normal splendor of musical theater and opera comes to seem tame by comparison. The living doll segment sees the stage enshrouded by curtains of a deep mustard yellow, and a harp’s strings rise from the instrume...