Jacques Offenbach's swan song is the opposite of his satirical operettas, which mocked and enchanted a Second Empire in search of pleasure and oblivion. Of course, Offenbach does not forget to entertain in this fantastic opera, but he colors the adventures of the poet Hoffmann with a dark and fatal dimension - in the image of the four evil figures who accompany him and drive him to misfortune. In this quest for the absolute and the feminine ideal, the exhilarating mingles with the macabre, the popular with the lyrical. Les Contes d'Hoffmann is three eras in the sentimental life of one man, three stories forming an unclassifiable opera, a masterpiece of French Romanticism, a maze of vertigo and lightness.

The poet Hoffmann has set himself the task of recounting his loves - three ill-fated romances thwarted by three evil characters, perhaps one and the same incarnation of the Devil.

Dazzled by Olympia's beauty, maliciously presented by Doctor Spalanzani, Hoffmann lets himself be blinded: the Olympia he loves is a doll! An automaton! Gifted with a very limited vocabulary, but nonetheless capable of reciting delicious couplets in her high-pitched voice. And totally stun Hoffmann...

Born on 20 June 1819 in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Jacques Offenbach (real name Jakob Eberst) began composing at the age of nine and showed great talent for the cello. His father sent him to study in Paris, the only city at the time where a Jewish musician could hope to make a career. At the age of fourteen, he was admitted by dispensation to the Paris Conservatoire, then directed by Luigi Cherubini.

He joined the Opéra Comique orchestra as a cellist, where he was noticed by Jacques Halévy. The revolution of 1848 forced him to return temporarily to Cologne. On his return in 1850, he was appointed conductor at the Théâtre Français.

In 1855, he composed La Reine des îles, which met with some success, and founded the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, which he directed until 1866. He premiered many of his works there, including his first great success, Orphée aux Enfers (1858). With the librettists Meilhac and Halévy, he created the French opéra-bouffe. One masterpiece followed another: La Belle Hélène (1864), Bluebeard (1866), La Vie parisienne and La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867), La Périchole (1868), and so on.

Offenbach's work reflected the joie de vivre and insouciance of the time, while at the same time conveying a certain amount of political and social criticism. From then on, he reigned over the musical scene of the Second Empire, but the 1870 war with Germany dealt a fatal blow to his success in France, and he had to leave Paris once again. Returning to the capital in 1871, he adopted the fashion for patriotic comic operas with Madame Favart and La Fille du tambour-major.

In 1873, he took over the management of the Gaîté Lyrique where he created Le Voyage dans la lune, but the theatre soon went bankrupt. Ruined and plagued by gout and rheumatism, Offenbach died on 4 October 1880 in Paris before he could complete Les Contes d'Hoffmann, the work that was to establish him as a ‘serious composer’.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).
He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).
Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, but also performs his own version for clarinet, piano and string orchestra of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.
Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of pieces of light music and a considerable number of arrangements in all styles and for all instruments acclaimed by numerous personalities in the music world:

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation