Beautifully multi-layered Orphée et Eurydice Royal Opera House

Christoph Willibald Gluck Orphée et Eurydice at the Royal Opera House.  John Eliot Gardiner conducted the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir, so musical excellence was  absolutely guaranteed. More surprisingly, the production itself broke new ground, for it connected the music, the singing and the dancing into a stunningly integrated whole. This takes vision. In its own time, Orphée et Eurydice was ground breaking, introducing radical reform to the genre. Gardiner and the Royal Opera House know their music history and have the artistic vision to bring Orphée et Eurydice back to life in a production as audacious as this.

Orpheus journeys into the Underworld. He doesn't save Eurydice but finds music.  Orphée et Eurydice  is an opera about abstract concepts, so abstract expression is of the essence, just as it would have been in Greek drama. The narrative unfolds through music, in different forms and on different levels. Hence John Fulljames and his designer Conor Murphy uses the whole performing space at the Royal Opera House, placing the orchestra centre stage. Even when it's barely visible, partly hidden in a pit, it's absolutely present at the very heart of the production, fundamentally true to its spirit. A production for those who actually "get" that opera is music.

Music leads us out of the total darkness representing "le tombeau de Eurydice". Hence the gloom that overhangs the structure from which the singers emerge. The  columns represent marble pillars, yet also the forest of tall trees, depicted in many paintings because they, too, are symbolic.  The music suggest ceremonial dirge, a hymn in the style of Classical Antiquity familiar to Gluck and his audiences. Gardiner respects the solemn pace, from which Orphée will emerge. This opera is Orpheus's journey, and one which he has to make alone, hence the"concert performance" emphasis on Orphée, which is vital to meaning.  Although the role was conceived for a castrati, and is usually now cast for mezzo, here we had the French version.  Juan Diego Flórez has the dramatic presence to carry it off. His long Récit at the end of the First Act felt emotionally convincing.His timbre also highlighted the frilly decorations in the part of  Amore (Amanda Forsythe). 

Love is also an erotic force. Flórez and many of the male dancers wear pantaloons not unlike the fleeces which shepherds draped around their waists. Significantly, Pan, too, was a shepherd an element of mythology which would have come as second nature to Gluck's audiences raised on Greek classics.  The dancers of the Hofesh Schechter Company, choreographed and directed by Schechter, moved with animal-like physicality, wildly gesturing yet precisely in time with the music. Gardiner whipped the orchestra to near frenzy, expressing shocking portent. No mortal has ever defied the natural order of life and death. Even Eurydice (Lucy Crowe) demurs. The natural warmth of period instruments driven hard like this creates tense contrast, also very much part of meaning. The instruments are vulnerable, like mortals, but their playing is heroic, all the more to be admired for that. Gardiner reveled the fundamental connection between baroque music and dance. Precision is of the essence. Dancers, like musicians, don't approximate gestures if they are any good. What a joy it was to watch Gluck's music come alive in physical form !

It was wonderful to watch how the nymphs and shepherds of the Monteverdi Choir walked among the dancers of the Hofesh Schechter Company - mortals and mythic, almost non-human elementals brought together by the miracle that is music. I don't know who the dancer with the dreadlocks was, but he danced like a Fury. Is he an alter ego to Orphée and perhaps a hint of Orpheus's eventual fate? Orpheus enters the Underworld for good when he's ripped apart by demons. So many layers of meaning, opersting together, united by music. In the harp we hear the lute with which Orpheus will find his destiny.  Lights shone from above, channelled at first through small apertures, like sunlight. Then the whole stage, singers, dancers and orchestra were all illuminated in golden light and burnished tones of antique copper.  Orphée doesn't save Eurydice, but when he re-enters the world, he's found his mission.

Get to this. It runs until 3rd October. It's like nothing else you're likely to experience in a while.

Ambitious Royal Opera House 2015/2016 season

The Royal Opera House 2015/2016 season is one of the best for a long time. Eight new productions in the main auditorium alone, and a florescence of new work at the Linbury, before it closes for refurbishment.  An ambitious range from the baroque to the modern.   Juan Diego Flórez sings his first Orphée, and Bryn Terfel his first Boris Gudunov. Even some of the revivals are "new", like Tannhäuser and Il trittico, revived for the first time.  And even more intriguing, ROH is going musically in depth, enhancing appreciation of opera repertoire by developing themes which connect operas and by doing opera-related orchestral music. Even the revivals of more regular repertoire are given star treatment. Jonas Kaufmann and Bryan Hymel, no less. Joyce DiDonato and Vittorio Grigolo make their role debuts in Massenet's Werther.

ROH starts 2015/2016 in grand style, with Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice, in the 1762 French revision, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner with Juan Diego Flórez's Orphée and Lucy Crowe, and his own specialist musicians, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists. Hofesh Schechter, the acclaimed choreographer, will direct. An interesting fusion of period performance and modern dancing. An even earlier telling of the Orpheus legend will be Luigi Rossi's Orphée (1674), with Christian Curnyn conducting the orchestra of the Early Opera Company at Shakespeare's Globe, where ROH staged L'Ormindo: very different from the Roundhouse Monteverdi Orfeo (1607) .earlier this year. A hat trick of early Orpheus operas, which, when heard in close succession enrich and inform, so we get more from what we experience. This is intelligent, joined-up thinking! This summer, ROH is presenting Birtwistle's The Corridor, also based on the same story. Could we dare hope for a new production of  his The Mask of Orpheus? Above, Orpheus with his lute, in a 17th century painting by Benedetto Gennari.

Bryn Terfel makes his long-awaited role debut in Mussorgsky's Boris Gudunov.. Richard Jones directs, so expect surprises, but also very musically informed insights.  This production is based on the 1869 seven-scene version of the opera, dramatically more taut and tense. Antonio Pappano conducts. Terfel will clearly be the draw but Ain Anger will be singing Pimen: an interesting contrast of voices. Anger is highly regarded, so his Covent Garden debut will be something to look forward to.  John Tomlinson, so closely connected to the opera, will appear in the vignette role of Varlaam.  

In November, the world premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas's Morgen und Abend, a co-commision between ROH and Deutsche Oper Berlin. Haas's In Vain created a sensation when it was heard at the South Bank last year. Read my article Invisible Theatre : George Haas In Vain  to get an idea of what Haas's music is like. It's intensely dramatic. Morgen und Abends is based on a Norwegian novel about the life of a man from birth to death, morning to evening. Graham Vick directs, Michael Boder conducts. 
  
A new Cav and Pag for Christmas!  Eva-Maria Westbroek should be a superb Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, to Aleksandrs Antonenko . He's also singing Canio in Pagliacci,, plus Dimitri Patanias.  Very solid casting. It will be directed by Damiano Micheletto, who's directing Rossini Guilliame Tell.this summer.

Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor, with two different casts in April (Diana Damrau) and May (Alexandra Kurzak) 2016, directed by Katie Mitchell, who is approaching Lucia as a woman forced into madness..  

Georges Enescu's Oedipe (1936) continues ROH's exploration of 20th century opera, following on from Szymanowski's Król Roger.(1926).  This production, by Alex Ollé and Valentina Carrasco of La Fura dels Baus, was first heard in Brussels three years ago, with Leo Hussain, who will again be conducting. 

Stars for  Emmanuel Chabrier  L'etoile, a macabre comedy. Incidentally, Laurent Pelly directs this opera in Amsterdam in October. In London, we'll be hearing a completely different production directed by Mariane Clément, who'll be directing Donizetti's Poliuto at Glyndebourne next month.  In London, Christophe Mortagne will be singing King Ouf I.

Verdi Il trovatore next year, a co-production with  Frankfurt Alte Oper, directed by David Bõsch with Gianandrea Noseda making his ROH conducting debut.

Plenty of other interesting things, especially in the Linbury before its closure, after which performances will shift elsewhere, such as to the Lyric Hammersmith.   The now regular co-operation between ROH and Welsh National Operas  brings Iain Bell's In parenthesis, directed by David Pountney. Among the many British composers being presented is Philip Venables, with his 4.48 Psychosis,  about the playwright Sarah Kane, and Mark Simpson's Pleasure co-commissioned by ROH, Opera North and Aldeburgh. For more, peruse here.

Glücklich Gluck ! Orfeo ed Euridice, Iphigénie in Tauride

Glücklich Gluck ! Tonight, Laurence Equilbey conducted Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice broadcast live on medici tv but still available to subscribers.  live at the Théâtre de Poissy.. Equilbey performances zing with vigour - listen to that descent into Hades !  Vocally. she works with some of the best, such as the Accentus choir, the ground breaking, innovative ensemble with whom she's been associated many years.  Delight in the choruses.  Equilbey conducts the Insula Orchestra, re-joined by Franco Fagioli, Malin Hartelius and Emmanuelle de Negri.

Even better,  Gluck's Iphigénie in Tauride, also recorded live from a new production  at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Switzerland, on 4th February, 2015. An even more high proifile cast - Anna Caterina Antonacci, Bruno Taddia, Steve Davislim (hearthrob) . Hartmut Haenchen conducts the venerable Orchestre de la  Susiise Romande. Listen HERE on BBC Radio 3 from Thursday or watch the complete original from Geneva HERE on arte tv. (already online)

Gluck Alceste - psychologically perceptive despite the singing

Watched the Bayerisches Staatsoper production  livestream last night, tho' it was ruimned by weather conditions and kept cutting out.  However, heard enough to say that Munich was LEAGUES better than Madrid.  Musically, the singers were wonderful,  Dortothea Roeschmann brilliant, and the orchestra less leaden than Bolton.  The production was suitably austere, the all important choreography so expressive that it extended the music, as it should.  Will write it up when the livestream gets archived


"They see me as a threat but I'm here to do good. Every strong woman in history has had to walk down the same path. I think it's the strength that causes confusion and fear"

Alceste, Queen of Thessaly, gives an interview. The very fact that Alceste should be allowed to give her side of events will enrage the kind of folk who think no-one is allowed insights other than their own. Director Krzysztof Warlikowski.'s production for the Teatro Real, Madrid, doesn't overdo the Princess Diana metaphor too much. Alceste (through Angela Denoke) comes across as a plausible, sympathetic personality. In any case, when the music begins, she slips back into role. In this performance, Denoke's pitch wavers and her consonants elide into vowels.  But  she acts so well that she projects character so well that she's utterly compelling. She dominates the screen, expressing Alceste's deepest feelings  with blazing intensity. A wonderful portrayal: one can forgive the lost notes. This is, after all, a Queen driven to extremes. What happens to her is horrific,  but her dignity and courage shine through.  Denoke's phrasing is plummy, but the raw honesty of her acting shows deep committment. I was immensely moved.

The Overture is stunning. Alceste knows what's happened to Admète. It's a private moment where she can show her vulnerability.  Shaking, Denoke tries to light a cigarette but her hands tremble too much.  When the trumpets announce Évandre, (Magnus Staveland)  who brings the news, the chorus reacts with grief, but as Queen, Alceste has to retain regal composure.as she addresses the populace. Here, they're shown as patients in a hospital with marble walls, whose austerity accentuates the rich, jewel-coloured satins worn by Alceste and her entourage's glowing colours.  Throughout history, royals have been expected to carry out semi-divine civic functions to calm their sujects fidèles.  Diana wasn't the first or last. In the darkness of the Temple, Gluck evokes a mood of elegant dignity. Warlikowski introduces long moments of silence, intensifying dramatic tension. A ritual is being observed. When Willard White's High Priest cries out "All-powerful God", the effect is  striking, even though White's voice is now ragged and dry.

The scene in which Alceste confronts the Underworld is brilliantly realized by designer Malgorzata Szczesniak.  The stage becomes a vast, metallic surface onto which fleeting images of the family and court are projected. Denoke seems tiny in comparison. As she sings, her shadow is shown upside down behind her: everything's in reverse. White light, rippling surfaces: Apollo's beams pierce this dark veil with cold, merciless cruelty. "Divinités de Styx, Ministères de la Mort" sings Denoke. "I will not implore your Mercy". Her pitch may be wayward, but she finds "new strength", her voice now warmed by love. The Court rejoices. Paul Groves sings Admète fluidly: this King takes things as his due, without question. Again, Warlikowski  emphasizes unspoken music. Delicately plucked strings while Alceste dances, and later when the penny starts to drop for Admète. How crude the "Spanish" dance seems in contrast! Similarly in the short interlude before "O! malgré moi, faible coeur", Denoke poses in front of a mountain of opulent roses, her face a mask of anguish. As Denoke sings front stage the flowers are lit with golden light. "Oh, how quickly the dream of life fades" sing the chorus.

Thomas Oliemans sings Hercule with macho energy. When he hears what's happening to his friends,  his cockiness collapses. He starts to shave, but his hands lose their grip, and foam pours over him. This is an interesting detail. Hercule represents male strength, while Alceste represents female strength but both are sensitive to feelings. Alceste wanders through the gates of the Underworld where bodies are being prepared by unworldly undertakers. Admète has followed her, rather than live on alone. As he sings of love, the corpses re-animate, one pair in frantic embrace.  Thanatos (also Willard White) sings to the sound of trumpets. " Charon t' appelles, entends sa voix!" Alceste starts to be wheeled away. The corpses twitch and squirm, as if electric currents are forcing them, unnaturally, into a parody of life.

Groves's singing becomes heroic, while Hercule,  stands helpless in the background, his face painted like a sad clown. Admète can't defy the gods, but Hercule, a god, can. He swings his fencing iron, invoking Apollon himself, who releases Alceste from the curse. Denoke, Groves and Oliemans sing the trio of happiness, which is taken up by the chorus. But can Alceste live happily ever after, having entered Hades? The brass fanfares and drum rolls in the finale suggest stately  power. King, Queen, Hercule and the royal children are having breakfast together: one egg, one orange juice, like in a hospital. But Alceste is in a wheelchair, tended by Thanato's assistant. Her body is present, but does her soul wander? Perhaps Admète's love is now being tested.  Perhaps Alceste is learning that you don't have to be superhuman to be loved.

This ending may be different, but it is thoughtful, and reflects a psychologically sensitive reading of the opera. Alceste is strong, but like so many strong people, strength comes at a price. She does good for others, and does her duty. But at what inner price.  Controversial as this ending might be to some, I think it enhances the meaning of the opera, and reaffirms its place in the repertoire. Contrary to received opinion, a good opera can support many different responses. The singing overall, may be better on some recordings, but anyone who cares about this opera would do well to learn from this extremely perceptive interpretation..

Please also see what I've written about Warlikowski's Die Frau ohne Shatten  and Eugene Onegin