The Changing Face of Evil

Offenbach, Stephen King and the Man in Black.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Randall Flagg? Walter O'Dim? Richard Fannin? He's the villain of Stephen King's The Dark Tower.
Art by Jae Lee © Marvel Comics. Character © 1978 Stephen King.

Jacques Offenbach saved his very best work for last. His final opera Les contes d'Hoffmann (playing at the Metropolitan Opera this week) was left incomplete at his death, but quickly entered the repertory in various completed versions. Offenbach based the opera on three stories by the author/poet/composer E.T.A. Hoffmann, working from a libretto that placed the poet himself as the hapless protagonist in his own stories. Standing in his way: four leading ladies (often played by two sopranos and a mezzo) and four villains, all of whom are designed to be played by the same bass-baritone.