“Gluck-Orfeo ed Euridice” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

The 55th anniversary season of Music of the Baroque began with the hauntingly beautiful “Orfeo ed Euridice”, composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck with a libretto by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi. Based on the Greek myth of Orpheus, this 18th Century three-character opera was backed by majestic music by the Music of the Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by music director Dame Jane Glover. Transformed from a full-fledged opera into a concert performance, the music tells a tale about love and loss and about the prospect of forever losing someone you truly love. But what normally would have been a sad ending in the original Orpheus myth becomes a happy fairytale with a pleasing result: where Eurydice (Heidi Stober) and Orpheus (Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen) are reunited in the world of the living.

Basically, we witness Orpheus’s complicated self-torture and guilt about having been instructed not to turn backward to view his spouse as the two of descend from the Underworld with him leading the way. Of course, there’s Eurydice’s incredible longing for her lover and husband, and she cannot believe that he won’t even take a glance at her! She believes that he is jealously guarding some important secret (which he is); but since he cannot tell her what that secret is, she becomes all the more hurt and offended. Orpheus sadly relents in answer to her desperate pleas and winds up condemning her to the Underworld forever. Yet in this version of the story, Orpheus is filled with so much grief stemming from his great affection for Eurydice that Love/Amore (Hannah De Priest) comes to the rescue—and Eurydice is no longer lost for all eternity but is instead brought back to life to live with him again. Some acting is involved here. When Love allows Eurydice to prevail over death, we see a young woman lying on the floor of the stage arising…. and next we see the couple hugging each other when they are made whole again. To quote one of the greats: “[You] only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it.” And I will add that this is especially the case when you have already lost it… with little or no hope of return.

Cohen’s countertenor voice as Orpheus is as relentless as it is beautiful. He’s the most amazing Orpheus I have ever seen! He was singing during about 85% of the entire 70-minute performance and very powerfully during supremely long stretches. It is amazing to hear the impeccable precision and timbre of Cohen’s vocals and his soulfulness! Stober is makes a sterling counterpart as Eurydice, with her lovely soprano voice and her undercurrents of pleadingness and passion. The evocative and resonant singing on the part of all the soloists brings their emotions to the fore with tremendous fervor. And the lyrics especially highlight the extent to which the characters are interwoven with each other and the dramatic struggles they face. Then too, the powerfulness of the chorus in emphasizing and interpreting the couple’s existential situation is done to perfection, especially when the ensemble sings the vocal accompaniment to all of the various (yet unseen) dances which make up this opera.

Stober wears a flowing and glittering silver and dull red gown to represent Eurydice. This off-the-shoulder (left shoulder bare) gown with an asymmetrical side train flashes the perfect silver for when she’s alive—and a dull red that is perfect when she is motionless, that is, for depicting when she’s dead—before Love restores her back to life. Note that De Priest, as Love, is also dressed in a shimmering gown off-the shoulder. Appropriately, it’s all in pink. But here the right shoulder is bare so that in her role as Cupid, she can throw love arrows with her right arm.

I would like to make a special shout-out to the woodwinds, especially in the second half, for evoking the sounds of nature, with the birds, bees, butterflies, and forest creatures being mimicked by the flute, the oboe, the bassoon, and the chalumeau (a folk instrument with an angelic sound that is the predecessor to the modern-day clarinet).

The forcefulness of the music and the tenderness of the emotions are what makes this rendition so splendid. Every moment was a delight! When you think about the structure of the concert, the first half (before the intermission) is basically the setup, whereas the second half is the main event, that is, what we’ve all been waiting for. With the timing broken down into 30 minutes, an intermission, and then an additional 40 minutes, the program was not too long and not too short. It was wonderful to see and hear just how much emotion and joy was effused throughout, and there was a constant thrill in the air. The strength of an engaging storyline, evocative singing, and gorgeous instrumentals made this performance a tremendous hit with its audience, who shared in the characters’ effervescence and their emotional highs and lows.

An incredibly loud and enthusiastic standing ovation followed. Bravo to all who made this dazzling concert possible!

_{Photos courtesy of SnoStudios}