If Offenbach's opéra fantastique is something of a problem then Richard Jones's new production for English National Opera and the Bavarian State Opera allows one to overlook them and enjoy afresh a stage-work that can seem inconsistent.

Such an upgrade is helped by Tim Hopkins's favourable English translation and by the excellent conducting of Antony Walker whose clear baton technique aids good coordination between pit and stage and he has a definite view of the music that is very persuasive. The playing of the ENO Orchestra is first-class, nearly on a par with the concurrent Der Rosenkavalier, which under Edward Gardner's stewardship, found the orchestra in exceptional form.

Jones's staging is part comic-book and part macabre horror-film. Jones tells the Tales from the confines of Hoffmann's study and through his imagination. There is much to look at and much that is pertinent; the scenes being at their best in the episodes with Olympia and with Antonia (two of Hoffmann's imagined loves) but less convincing with Giulietta, the prostitute.

The casting is stellar. Christine Rice brings much to Nicklausse (Hoffmann's booze-created muse, here a schoolboy), and the American Georgia Jarman - making her UK debut - really impresses in a variety of styles and roles, not least as the doll Olympia when her mechanical moves and precise singing are a joy.

Barry Banks (once past the too-long opening where he paces the floor with despondency until alcohol offers a solution) brings authority to his vocal assumption and acts well the character's fantasies, wackily presented at times. Clive Bayley makes much of his four roles, not least the 'quack' Dr Miracle, played in a naughty-mischievous way that reminds of Vincent Price. Simon Butteriss tends to steal scenes whenever he appears (he too has four roles), and all the singers make creditable characters, their ensemble tight and the interaction meaningful.

If not everything comes off, and that includes what sounds like an amplified chorus, there is much to engross and much that is revealing. I, for one, would go to see Hoffmann again. It is often compelling and very enjoyable.