This tenor character sings the love duet “It’s a love song” with a soprano who likens herself to a still-faithful turtledove who has fled. This man exclaims, “O God! of what intoxication,” when succumbing to the seductions of a deceitful courtesan, and is roused from a drunken stupor when a trouser role character sheds her disguise and declares her love for him. This character’s beloved sings a coloratura aria punctuated by periodic interruptions and the sound of a ratchet, about “The birds in the bower.” Three women in the opera are (*) actually different facets of this character’s beloved, Stella. This man becomes infatuated with the Venetian courtesan Giulietta, who sings the duet with Nicklausse “Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour” (“BELL-uh NWEE, oh NWEE dah-MOOR”). “The Doll Song” and a barcarolle feature in an opera titled for this man. For 10 points, name this author whose “tales” title an opera by Jacques Offenbach. ■END■
ANSWER: E. T. A. Hoffmann [or Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann; or Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann; accept The Tales of Hoffmann or Les contes d’Hoffmann]
<IZ, Other Arts: Auditory>
= Average correct buzz position