La Barcaorola - exhibition

Among the opera's most famous arias is surely the barcarole that opens the Venetian act, "Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour/Bella notte, oh notte d'amore." Curiously, the aria was not composed by Offenbach with Les contes d'Hoffmann in mind, but as the "song of the Elves"' for the opera Die Rheinnixen (The Rhine Fairies), first performed in Vienna on February 8, 1864. It was Ernest Guiraud, assigned to finish the orchestration upon the death of his colleague, who decided to include the barcarole in the new opera.

"Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour/Bella notte, oh night of love," in addition to inspiring English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji's "Venetian Stroll over Offenbach's Barcarola" (1955-56) and "Tonight Is So Right For Love/Stasera è così giusto per amore" to Elvis Presley (1960), has been used in many films, including Titanic (1997), Life is Beautiful (1997), Midnight in Paris (2011).