Barcarola de jacques offenbach biography
Barcarola de jacques offenbach biography
Jacques offenbach the tales of hoffmann.
Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour
Duet from the opera The Tales of Hoffmann
"Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" ("Beautiful Night, Oh Night of Love" in French, often referred to as the "Barcarolle") is a piece from The Tales of Hoffmann (1881), Jacques Offenbach's final opera.
A duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano, it is considered the most famous barcarolle ever written[1] and described in the Grove Book of Operas as "one of the world's most popular melodies."[2] The text, concerning the beauty of the night and of love, is by Jules Barbier.
The piece
The piece opens the opera's "Giulietta" act, set in Venice. It is sung by the characters Giulietta – the protagonist Hoffmann's love, a Venetian courtesan – and Nicklausse – Hoffmann's poetic muse, in disguise as his faithful male companion.[2] In addition to the Venetian location it sets the seductive and sinister tone of the Venice act in general and of Giulietta's character specifically.[3]