Le Manuscrit disparu
Une histoire des Contes d'Offmann de Jacques Offenbach
Gérald Caillat
2004 - 52 min - France

On February 10, 1881, the first performance of Tales of Hoffmann took place at the Opéra comique in Paris. Offenbach, who has spent nearly 10 years on his most ambitious work, had died several months earlier, on October 5, 1880, leaving it uncompleted. Henceforth, over the years, the manuscript would endure transformations, cuts, thefts and forgeries, vanishing and turning up time and again at different points around the globe. This documentary is a kind of musical thriller, an investigation that takes us from Paris to New York, from Mainz to Burgundy, where we meet concerned parties (alleged heirs, music publishers, musicologists, opera directors, conductors, directors, etc.) and hear their viewpoints and explanations.