Good to find Rolando Villazon looking and sounding so relaxed as the ardent and well-lubricated Hoffmann in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann after his near-disastrous innings as Don Carlo in the Royal Opera's synthetic Hytner production. Singing that role was always a bad idea, the more since well-publicised vocal problems had inevitably led to a crisis of confidence. I will always remember Jose Carreras telling me that the one big regret of his career was allowing Herbert von Karajan to persuade him to sing Carlos. Once was more than enough. It is longer and heavier than it appears and to a lyric tenor like Villazon embracing it to the full is potentially suicidal. One of Villazon's great qualities as an artist is his unstinting commitment: he will push well beyond his comfort zone if that is what is required. But his charm, as we heard here as Hoffmann, lies in the soft velvety "cover" of his voice, his caressing way with dovetailed phrases mezza voce. The "push" of his voice is exciting only when he is singing within its natural bounds. Let sanity prevail - he is too big a talent to lose to bad decisions. It's true that Domingo sang Hoffmann, too; it's grateful to sing and not too high. But only a handful of roles (and this is one) sit just as comfortably for two very different kinds of tenor.