The myth of Orpheus is tailor-made for opera. The story of a man who makes such beautiful music that he convinces the gods to let him take his love Eurydice out of hell and back to earth to live happily ever after is begging to be staged and many a composer has taken up the challenge – more than 70 operas have been written of the trials of Orpheus. One of the most famous adaptations is Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. After its first performance in 1762, it quickly became Gluck’s most popular work and greatly influenced the German operas that followed. The current production at Seattle Opera of O+E, the chamber adaptation of Gluck’s opera, is just as much of a trailblazer as the original.
For the first time in Seattle Opera’s history, the creative team is comprised entirely of women. From the directors of both music and stage all the way through the designers and principle cast. Additionally, the role of Orpheus, most often sung by a woman but portrayed as a man (known as a trouser or pants role), is presented as a woman in this iteration, deftly and instantly bringing this ancient myth into the present day. While an all female team shouldn’t be such a groundbreaking event in 2018, it sadly is. However, it should not be the only (or even the most important) takeaway from this beautiful production.
As the audience enters the theater both O and E are already onstage. From moment one, it is clear we are intruding on a very personal experience. O is awaiting the fate of her beloved wife E who lies unconscious in a hospital bed as the overture is used to score the hustle and bustle of the hospital. Side note: the dancers who inhabit the worlds (both earthly and not) have such clearly drawn characters, I would gladly follow any of their stories. As O sits in agony and exasperation, A (usually known as Amore) depicted here as E’s surgeon, comes in to present O with another option. You can cross over to the other side and try to persuade the Furies with the beauty of your voice to allow E to return with you, alive. But there is a catch! You can not look at your wife until you return to the surface or you will lose her forever.
O is delighted and quickly takes up the challenge. She eventually wins over the obstinate Fates and E appears as dazzling and graceful a woman as ever there was. At first the reunion is joyous but eventually the inability of O to look back at her wife drives E to refuse to come back thinking she will no longer have the love of her seemingly neglectful partner. Eventually O breaks down and looks back (you had ONE job!) and E is instantly dragged back to the underworld. Devastated by her failure to bring back E, O vows to kill herself and be reunited with her wife in the afterlife. Moved by this gesture, A brings E back and it’s happy endings for everyone! But wait! It’s all been a dream and the real A – the surgeon A – enters the hospital room to inform O of the fate of her wife.
The drama is epic and the stakes are high and to pull all of this off in such an intimate space is no easy feat. Thankfully we are in extremely capable hands with stage director Kelly Kitchens at the helm. Each moment, prop, and costume piece has been carefully crafted and they all are part of telling the story (serious shout out to Julia Hayes Welch for the set design and Chelsea Cook for the costume design). Along with the brilliant staging is Katheryn Van Meter’s fantastic choreography. The ballet with the soldiers of the underworld is equal parts beautiful and frightening. Under the baton of the excellent Lucy Tucker Yates, the orchestra small but wildly effective. She is also able to wield a dramatic pause like few can. Also attributed to Yates is the magnificent English translation of the libretto.
Bringing the touching libretto to life is a cast of three distinct performers. Magda Gartner as O (stepping in last minute to replace Hai-Ting Chinn) is tasked with most of both the storytelling and the emotional movements of the opera. While some of her mid-range lacked clarity and power, her lower chest voice and high notes were striking and dynamic. Gartner was also able to pull of very subtle moments that would have been lost on a bigger stage. Serena Eduljee as A managed to imbue her clear and agile soprano with the confidence, precision, and authority of a surgeon. The final piece of the mythic puzzle is the gorgeous Tess Altiveros as E. She is able, in a very short amount of stage time, to make it clear why someone would brave the depths of the underworld to bring her back. Altiveros’s E is passionate and fiery and from her first notes, her lucious soprano is infused with a great depth of emotion.
O+E is a familiar tale told in a new and incredibly inventive way. The one-act 80 minute experience flies by and is entirely engrossing from beginning to end. It is to be applauded that Seattle Opera is using these smaller, chamber operas in their season to push the envelope of opera and to continue to find new stories to tell.
O+E is playing at the Seattle Opera Studios, 200 Terry Avenue North, Seattle through June 10th. For more information and tickets please visit https://www.seattleopera.org/on-stage/o-and-e.