"But as he looked more and more sharply through the glass, it was as if moist moonbeams were rising in Olimpia's eyes. It seemed as if only now the power of sight was ignited; the glances flared up more and more vividly and vividly." Fantasy or reality? What is real, what is imagination? E.T.A. Hoffmann was always preoccupied with this theme, as well as in his tale of the "Sandman" about the dreamy Nathanael and the beautiful Olimpia. Their eyes appear as if they "have no power of sight", as if "she were sleeping with her eyes open."

No wonder, Olimpia is a living doll and represents Hoffmann's dream of the artificial human. Hoffmann himself was a poet, musician, civil servant, dreamer. This made him so interesting for the composer Jacques Offenbach that he placed Hoffmann at the center of an opera: "Hoffmann's Tales". In it, three women play a central role: Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta. They haunt the fantasy-soaked brain of the unfortunate Hoffmann, who embarks on a search for the ideal woman. The Theater Bielefeld delves deeper into this search. Veronika Lee sings the role of Olympia, Dušica Bijelić can be experienced as Antonia, Alexandra Ionis as Giulietta. Wolfgang Nägele directs, Alexander Kalajdzic conducts.