Fire in the Opera House

It begins with a Tannhäuser performance and ends with the premiere of The Tales of Hoffmann In between a young ingénue cast in her first big role the Hoffmann rehearsals the theatre director and his stage director exchanging cynicisms a budding love affair Gründgens at his most repulsive trying to woo both lovers And a hairraising finale Add to this some snappy dialogue and precode scenes that make you sit up and stare