This wonderful work will surprise and please those who have found Philip Glass' operas slightly too Philip Glassy and will equally please committed fans of the composer. While the arpeggiated repetitions for which he is known are here in abundance, there is great variation. The opera is based on Jean Cocteau's stunningly poetic 1950 film, and the ancient plot is updated to that period; correctly, Glass uses honky-tonk rhythms, odd syncopations, and jazzy interludes in addition to pulsating strings that add to the inevitability and mythic quality of the story. And the musical changes from scene to scene are sometimes drastic--severity suddenly will take the place of very busy activity. And there are some moments--the last two scenes come to mind--that are simply beautiful: touching and lyrical.The alternate plot by Cocteau (Glass uses the film's script very closely as libretto) concerns Orphée, a well-known poet who disregards his wife, Eurydice, mostly because of the creative crisis he is going through--a young poet named Cegeste is all the rage. At a party, he meets and is entranced by La Princesse, a captivating woman who is actually Death in disguise, and her chauffeur, Heurtbise. Cegeste dies and he is taken by the Princess and Heurtbise to the Underworld, which they reach through mirrors.
Orphée hears messages on the radio that are meaningless, but he listens obsessively. He falls in love with the Princess, and Eurydice and Heurtbise are attracted to one another. When Eurydice dies, Orphée, et al, go to the Underworld, and the rest is as it normally is in the legend, save for the Princess sacrificing herself for the sake of Orphée's and Eurydice's happiness.
The cast is superb and the opera is, as we normally say about books, "impossible to put down". It's in French, and the rapid delivery of the text, totally syllabic and conversational, makes the accompanying libretto--fascinating on its own--a must.
Philip Cutlip's Orphée is properly torn, obsessed, and unpredictable, while Lisa Saffer's Princess, in a role that sits high, is commanding, mysterious, and complicated. Ryan Macpherson's Heurtbise, a character who says odd things and (apparently) is dead, is direct and odd at the same time. Georgia Jarman's Eurydice is amazingly sympathetic, given her emotionally starved state. The scene in which she has been brought back to life and Heurtbise attempts to keep Orphée from gazing at her is quite funny (they must be kept away from the omnipresent mirrors), and the final scene of wedded bliss is warm and toasty.
Anne Manson leads this live performance from the Portland Opera and makes the scene changes and mood changes clear: there is much overlapping between the real and the unreal and she allows us to follow it easily. Glass' sense of drama is at its best: mid-way through the opening, chatty, jazz-inflected party, Cegeste leaves and is killed by a motorcycle. Everything suddenly stops. It's just one of many coups de théâtre that will keep you fascinated. Highest recommendation. [7/26/2010]
