IMSLP Forums

There is an edition of Les Contes d'Hoffmann from 1977 edited by Fritz Oeser. It has some numbers in it that were omitted from earlier editions of the work. I have seen several people asking for the Violin Aria in particular, and thought it might be a good candidate to post in IMSLP.

Here is a link to the listing at UC Berkeley.

http://oskicat.berkeley.edu/record=b10304771~S1

If this is an urtext type edition, it should be OK in the EU and Canada. The chief issue with a vocal score is who created the piano reduction? If the Baerenreiter reproduced the older arrangement made by August Bazille (1828-1891), there should be no problem. If Oeser actually made a new piano reduction, it is an arrangement and does not fall under the urtext rule of EU copyright.

I think this score contains pieces that earlier scores don't. I don't know if they're newly discovered, or just not regularly published. I would expect that at the very least these arias have new piano reductions. That probably makes them a no-go.

I know the history of that piece is rather complicated and confusing. Choudens issued at least two different vocal scores before the one commonly found today appeared in 1906 or so.