from Prologue of the French opera
Les Contes d'Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach
Libretto: Jules Barbier
Voice Part: tenor Fach: lyric tenor
Setting: Luther's tavern, Nuremburg, 19th century
Synopsis: During the intermission of Stella's opera, Hoffmann and a group of students come into Luther's taproom for a drink. The students ask for a story and Hoffmann responds with the legend of Kleinzach, a dwarf whose incredible ugliness he begins describing. Midway through, though, he begins to reminisce about the beauty of a woman he used to know.