These days each new Hoffmann seems to have not merely its individual cast but its own individual text. Not so this German offering, recorded in 1979, which faithfully follows the longer version of the Choudens/Peters score that derives from the 1905 Berlin production. So far as I am concerned that is fair enough, since one might as well have accretions from the 1900s as from the 1980s, especially when the former include the unauthentic but, surely, indispensable ''Scintille, diamant''. With the Giulietta Act here conveniently accommodated on a CD of its own, one may readily enough insert it before or after the Antonia Act according to one's taste.
In perfect keeping with the version used, the interpretation is on a grand scale and on those terms very successful too. Siegfried Jerusalem is a Hoffmann with a bold, virile thrust. If one misses the human touch of previous German-language tenors in the role, such as Tauber or Patzak, this Wagnerian-scale hero is none the less compelling, with some glorious ringing tenor notes. Of the three major heroines Jeanette Scovotti is technically faultless as the doll, if with a slight edge to the voice. Norma Sharp offers a rich, pure sound, though perhaps a shade too 'nice' for the courtesan Giulietta. As befits the quality of the music, the best singing is to be found in the Antonia Act, where Julia Varady may this time be a shade too knowing but produces a predictably glorious sound.
Throughout there is Fischer-Dieskau—a tower of strength as the various villains, never putting a foot or note wrong and encompassing the varying demands of his roles in exemplary fashion. His trio with Hoffmann, Miracle and Kurt Moll's admirable Crespel is compellingly done, and there are equally exemplary contributions from Hanna Schwarz as Antonia's mother and from Friedrich Lenz in the cameo servant roles. Ilse Gramatzki, with much less to do here than in modern reconstructions of the opera, makes a reliable Nicklausse. Not least there is the conducting of Heinz Wallberg, to my mind an underrated conductor who knows how to pace a work and never seeks to impose any personal idiosyncrasies. There are predictably good choral contributions.
The recording offers a clear perspective, with voices if anything a shade forward but not inappropriately so. A German Hoffmann will not be everyone's requirement, but on its own terms I recommend this version without hesitation.'