Retelling Hoffmann’s Tales

In Jacques Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann, the middle-aged poet E. T. A. Hoffmann sits in a bar recalling his three lost loves. His stories are fantastical, which lends this opera, more than others, to directorial creativity (some say directorial excess). As Minnesota Opera audiences will see this month, director Helena Binder’s version pushes the envelope more than most.

When this production of Hoffmann played in Dallas in 2005, Binder worked as assistant director under the original director, Chris Alexander. Now at the helm, she has the chance to put her own stamp on the opera, emphasizing the storybook elements.

According to Binder, the first tale, about the mechanical doll Olympia, has “a modernesque feel, like Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands or Willy Wonka.” In the tale of the courtesan Giulietta, the characters are marionettes set against unrealistic-looking scenery. The final tale, about the dying Antonia, is done in black, white, and gray and has a film noir quality. Creative as these details are, do they relate to Offenbach’s vision? Where’s the line between illuminating the opera and spotlighting one’s own cleverness?

Last year, the Des Moines Metro Opera presented a traditional version of Hoffmann, but peppered it with subtle directorial touches. For example, when Hoffmann appeared in the first tale, he was twenty years younger than he was in the prologue, where he set the opera’s premise. That insightful touch engaged the imagination and sharpened the perception of the work without violating the world Offenbach created.

For her part, Binder says, “[I want] to tell the story, to take the material—music and libretto—and make the story clear. I do not believe in gratuitous elements.” But she doesn’t apologize for the wealth of contemporary references. “The stories are embellished by Hoffmann’s own imagination,” she says. “We are seeing them in his own mind.”

Often, over-the-top productions grow out of a director’s condescension toward the work. That is not the case with Binder. She loves the opera and hopes the production is successful. Audiences can soon judge for themselves. Oct. 28, 29, 31; Nov. 2 & 4. Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, 651-333-6669

Reach William Randall Beard at randybeard@hotmail.com.