This performance of Les Contes d'Hoffmann assembles a brilliant (at times unexpectedly so) cast. In the title role, Sandor Konya sings with elegance, beauty and passion. Mady Mesplé is remarkable as Olimpia both for the accuracy of her coloratura and the fullness of her sound. Heather Harper's rich soprano conveys all of the frailty and abandon of Antonia. Lastly, Gabriel Bacquier not only sings the four villains with black malevolence but displays the upshot of having a great singing actor singing in his native tongue.