Jon Piso

“With this lavish colour production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman, we are in more conventional, though never dull, territory. It is a handsome, well sung version which stands up well to the contemporary BBC 2 version that graced our screens a Christmas or two ago. (This, too, was a Christmas-time, prestige production). The production and adaptation is by Václav Kaslic, who has produced the opera many times on stage: here he makes imaginative use of the new medium to overcome difficulties inherent in some stories. He has a fine cast, including Jon Piso as a robust Hoffman[,] Sylvia Geszty, Thomas Tipton and Herold Kraus. The orchestra and chorus are from the Bavarian State Opera.” - Brian Baxter, for the BFI.

Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice) is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II. Its libretto was by F. Zell and Richard Genée based on Le Château Trompette by Eugène Cormon and Richard Genée. The farcical, romantic story involves several cases of mistaken identity. The piece premiered in 1883 in Berlin and then Vienna. It became one of Strauss's three most famous stage works and has been seen in New York, London and elsewhere, and has been adapted for film.