(Les contes d'Hoffmann)
Jules Barbier/Jacques Offenbach (1881)
In French, with English supertitles
The title character, based on the real-life German poet E.T.A. Hoffmann, stars in three fanciful stories of failed love in one of the grandest and most expressive of all 19th-century French operas, combining emotional depth and musical brilliance.

Gertrude Stein/Virgil Thompson (1947)
Inspired by the life of Susan B. Anthony, this American chamber opera brings together fictional and non-fictional characters from U.S. history. The New York Times called the work “one of the most entertaining and yet most pertinent operas composed in our century… a masterpiece whose full value has probably yet to be realized.”

Hugh Wheeler/Stephen Sondheim (1979)
A musical tale of the dark side of love, madness and revenge. Original Broadway production won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical; the 2007 movie adaptation won Golden Globe awards for best picture and best actor for title character Johnny Depp.