Les Contes d'Hoffmann is a great, unfinished masterpiece. In 1880 Hoffenbach's health began to deteriorate rapidly. Les Contes d'Hoffmann had already been programmed for the 1880/81 season of the Opéra-Comique but Offenbach was having a hard time finishing it and worked only in the moments of respite from his illness. he died on October 5th, leaving the opera incomplete (we sti...