Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice: Opera Prometheus

REVIEW Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (In Italian with surtitles) Opera Prometheus PACT Theatre, Erskineville, until April 3 * * * * (Four stars) With the second production by Opera Prometheus, this fledgling company of passionate young professionals and advanced students is starting to get a reputation for consistently high-quality, reasonably-priced chamber opera that appeals to young and old. Despite a shoe-string budget and no payment for its highly trained performers and creative team, Opera Prometheus’s achievements are extremely impressive and definitely worth the price of a ticket ($20 for 30 and under, $30 for over 30’s, tickets available online or at the door). This was not the well-known Paris 1774 version of Gluck’s revolutionary opera, but rather the original 1762 Vienna version, adapted slightly for the needs of a chamber performance. The tragic story of poet and singer Orfeo’s (Orpheus’s) descent into the underworld in pursuit of his dead wife Euridice (Eurydice) is here transformed by a contemporary setting into a story about mental illness and drug abuse. Here it is hinted that Orfeo himself originally killed his wife, perhaps in a moment of madness or jealousy. He is persuaded by his slightly sinister alter-ego Amore (Love) to take drugs to escape into an alternate reality-- a dream of the underworld--and regain Euridice. As in the original myth, he is not allowed to look directly at Euridice or he will lose her forever; in this production, this becomes a metaphor for facing the truth about his crime. Although I had to consult the programme notes to completely understand it, Artistic Director Bernard Leon’s added layer of narrative is fascinating and works well, with the minimum of props used very effectively. Last November’s production of Campra’s Tancrède: Tragedie en musique (1702) was of an equally high standard as this Orfeo, but while Tancrède made do with just a very talented pianist, Orfeo sees Opera Prometheus branching out with a mini string orchestra (two violins, viola, cello, double-bass, piano), enabling them to achieve a much greater timbral range and expressive effects. The musical director, Sadaharu Muramatsu, conducted with professional aplomb. Another improvement on last year is the addition of surtitles. While audiences at Tancrede had to read the French original and the English translation in the printed libretti provided, this time audiences could spend more time watching the action and listening to the gorgeous music instead of reading. (It may have been somewhat difficult for the audience members on the benches diagonally opposite to read the surtitles. Get in early and choose a seat directly opposite the projections.) My only other complaint was that the benches were backless and very hard, making a 1½ hour, no-interval performance rather uncomfortable. I advise bringing a cushion to sit on, unless you are naturally ‘pneumatic’! The performance, however, was well worth the discomfort. As for the singers, the chorus of mostly tertiary or post-tertiary vocal students had some really wonderful voices and were very solid as an ensemble. One of the highlights of the production he chorus of furies guarding the gates of hell, and Orfeo’s gradual winning-over of them through his music (“Deh! placetevi con me”). In particular, the piano’s running arpeggios, and the power of the double-bass, along with the chorus’s strong chords of “No!” all combined to create a thrilling, literally spine-tingling sense of supernatural menace, contrasted with Orfeo’s warm, very human mezzo voice begging for mercy. It would have been nice to see more than two males among a chorus of nine, but the lack of males and surfeit of females who choose opera singing as a career is one of the eternal problems of the industry, especially when the majority of roles tend to be for men. This gender imbalance was most noticeable among the soloists, all three of whom were women, with the male characters of Orfeo and Amore portrayed by mezzo-soprano Silvia Colloca and soprano Rebecca Moret respectively. Orfeo’s passionate grief and love for his dead wife Euridice, played by the beautiful soprano Alice Girle, might have led some to think of lesbian connotations, especially given that we were in Erskineville (!), and as this production played with contemporary psychological themes. But after five minutes I think everyone forgot they were looking at women and only saw young men, particularly in the case of Orfeo, which I will come to in a moment. Moret has a lovely instrument, soaring and flexible, and her Sydney Conservatorium training has obviously been very thorough. Girle’s voice is sweet, youthful and nightingale-like, but has plenty of support and no breathiness. I mention Colloca last because she is unquestionably the star of the show. Her warm, mellow, rich voice was matched only in its expressiveness by her acting, which was superb. A professional actress for stage and film as well as a singer, I was astonished to see what looked like real tears running down her face at one particularly poignant moment. She, probably more than anyone, really made the audience empathise with the cruel tragedy of love and death. She reached the height of her expressiveness with her beautiful messa di voce and carefully chosen dynamic nuances just after Euridice’s second death. Only rarely does one come across such a true singer-actor. I give this wonderful production four stars, and it has the potential to achieve five stars before its short season is over. Go and see it if you love good opera. And go and see it if you think you might like opera, if it weren’t so stodgy most of the time; this one’s freshness may well convert you. Reviewer Holly Champion is studying for her PhD in the performance practice of early opera. Orfeo ed Euridice plays at the PACT Theatre, 170 Railway Pde, Erskineville until Sunday April 3.