As the opening production in the Minnesota Opera’s 2010-2011 season, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice is a striking choice. Offering a narrative stripped of superfluous elements, Gluck endeavored to heighten emotional intensity by focusing solely on the core storyline. Such an approach presents a tremendous gamble on audience attention, trusting that the narrative be captivating enough to compensate for the lack of extraneous spectacle. This challenge is resoundingly surpassed, however, by an exhilarating blend of Gluck’s invigorating score, a spellbinding cast, and an enchanting display of interpretive dance. Through the sublime fusing of these essential elements, the Minnesota Opera has crafted a thoroughly enthralling journey.
An adaptation of Greek mythology, Orpheus and Eurydice follows the hero Orpheus, revered for his preternaturally beautiful singing, as he ventures into the underworld to retrieve his deceased beloved, Eurydice. Along the way Orpheus will be confronted by numerous struggles, none more excruciating than the temptation to break his divine vow not to gaze upon Eurydice’s face until they’ve returned to the surface world. First performed in 1762, Gluck’s work remains notable for a concise but expressive libretto by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi, the recurrent use of choruses, and a radiant score that emphasizes the resilient strength of love even in the depths of despair.
Leading the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, acclaimed conductor Harry Bicket conjures the ethereal wonder of Gluck’s composition. Though a journey into Hades might seem a foreboding affair, the predominant musical motif is one of vibrancy as a surging string section continually elevates the mood with graceful resonance. Such vigorous musicality, coupled with Lee Blakeley’s equally spirited stage direction, proves an indispensible means of heightening scenes in which the sole action resides in the characters’ emotion.
The great responsibility for voicing our hero’s distress and deliverance has been entrusted to the internationally celebrated countertenor David Daniels. As Orpheus, Daniels surpasses his exalted reputation with a mesmerizing vocal display that exquisitely conveys his character’s passion, but never overpowers the production. Such carefully tuned sensibilities are responsible for the work’s finest moment, a show-stopping third act aria of stunning beauty.
But while the production largely centers on Orpheus, two supporting roles provide for an evocative vocal confluence. Susanna Phillips and Angela Mortellaro, both skilled sopranos, embody the respective parts of Eurydice and Amore, god of love. Mortellaro distinguishes herself with crystalline tones well suited for her angelic role. The accomplished Phillips likewise proves of sterling voice, especially when paired with Daniels on the work’s gorgeously rendered third act duet.
Adding visual spark is an absorbing physical display by the renowned Zenon Dance Company. Combining aspects of ballet and interpretive dance, the fluidly designed movements given to furies and spirits (choreographed by Arthur Pita) capture a dreamlike quality that has the power to transfix.
Not as elaborately embellished as some recent Minnesota Opera productions, the set and costume design by Adrian Linford is a model of efficiency, maintaining a balance between somber tones and flashes of inspiration. Linford is aided in this approach by the versatile lighting design of Jenny Cane who allows the pervasive darkness to be shattered by such revelatory moments as the introduction of Amore and the approach of the furies.
Those audiences looking for complicated storylines and elaborately shifting designs might have some hesitation toward Orpheus and Eurydice, but the work’s simplicity rests only on the surface. Rendered with transcendent emotion, the Minnesota Opera’s underworld journey is lit by a fiery passion that remains inextinguishable.
Orpheus and Eurydice runs at the Ordway Center through 10/03.
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