Life Lesson from Hoffmann

Few weeks ago, I watched another opera piece called The Tales of Hoffmann (Hoffmann Erzählungen in German or Les Contes D'hoffmann in French). Although it was quite extensive (around 3.5 hours), I’m so captivated by this show.

The first reason why I fell in love in this opera piece is because there are so many beautiful songs during the show. It has one of the most beautiful opera song I have ever heard, which is Barcarolle “Belle Nuit, O Nuit D’amour”. This song was also used in my favorite movie, La Vita e Bella (Life's Beautiful).

 The second thing why I love The Tales of Hoffmann is the wonderful stage and production. Every act has a unique decoration and the opera comics have beautiful dresses. My eyes got entertained so well from the stage and dresses.

Courtesy of Volksoper Wien, https://www.volksoper.at

Courtesy of Volksoper Wien, https://www.volksoper.at

And the last thing that makes my mind still stuck in this opera piece even until now is the interesting storyline. The main premise of this opera piece is about a man called Hoffmann who tells the story of his three failed love life. Throughout his life, he fell in love with 3 girls which are described in the 3 parts of the opera. 

The first girl was a robot doll called Olympia, which is then got broken by Hoffmann’s nemesis. 

Olympia
(courtesy of Volksoper Wien, https://www.volksoper.at)

The second girl was Antonia, a really talented singer with a unique disease, singing kills her. Her love story with Hoffmann ended after Hoffmann’s nemesis (again) forced her to sing until she died. 

Antonia
(courtesy of Volksoper Wien, https://www.volksoper.at)

The third girl was Giulietta, a courtesan in Venice. In reality, she was not really in love with Hoffmann. But (again) Hoffmann’s nemesis crushed Hoffmann love life by offering a diamond to Giuletta if she can steal Hoffmann’s shadow.

Giuletta
(courtesy of Volksoper Wien, https://www.volksoper.at)

At the end of the story, Hoffmann realized that there is no use focusing his mind to find love, instead, he should focus more on his passion, which is writing poems.

I should say, the storyline is very related to normal human’s life. It is not just from love life’s perspective but also related to other things that can consume human’s mind in an unhealthy way. This could be money, power, lifestyle, and other things that look essential in our life but it could vanish in an eye blink. And then the ambition of possessing these things closes our vision of the future and also the chance to be happy.

I, myself, am still struggling for this.  Sometimes I am too busy chasing something and then it makes me stress and forget to be happy.

So, the moral of the story is keep reminding yourself of what is the most important thing that can make you happy and fulfilled instead of chasing something temporary that can stress you out.

Have a nice weekend!

Vienna, July 27^th 2018

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