The iconoclastic American musician’s chamber opera opens in Spain, revising the classical myth by recreating Jean Coctau’s mid-20th century film
“This is the least minimalistic Phlip Glass.” Jordi Francés, responsible for the musical direction of ‘Orfeo’, the chamber opera in two acts by Phillp Glass (Baltimore, 85 years old) that will premiere this Wednesday in Spain, assures it with a smile. It is a co-production of the Teatro Real and the Teatros del Canal, who open the season by performing this piece for the first time in our country, based on the film of the same name by Jean Cocteau, released in 1950, and in which the French poet, writer and academic reviews the myth of Orpheus and his love affair with Eurydice.
It is a crucial year for this classic myth and its operatic reflection, as the Royal Theater under the direction of Joan Matabosch also programmed for this season the ‘Orfeo’ by the Italian Claudio Monteverdi, which premiered in 1607 and served as the basic title for the opera as we know it today, and the German Christoph Willibald von Gluck’s ‘Orfeo’, which premiered in 1762.
Glass’ opera was trained in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1993, and the composer promised to invite the spectators to dinner, who stayed in their seats until the end. It is a parable of the life of a poet obsessed with himself and with immortality. In the company of Heurtebise and a mysterious princess, the characters travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. The death of the young poet Cégeste becomes the starting and returning point of a special descent into hell.
“It’s the most complicated thing I’ve done yet,” said Rafael Villalobos, who moves the scene from the mid-19th century to 1990s New York, in the throes of television and the 2008 financial crash. “But it continues to talk about the poet, love and death,” explains the director and costume designer. “Time becomes fluid and mixes past, present and future”, admits Villaobos, who plans a reflection on creation and the artist in the new culture of the art market.
In the pits will be 31 musicians who, at the behest of Jordí Francés, “violate” a score that he claims to have approached the opera “with a baroque thought”. “The score is an adventure that leaves Glass open to all kinds of interpretations,” says Francés, who conducts Real’s titular orchestra for the third time after taking over on ‘Brudibar’ and ‘Tránsito’.
She is played by a predominantly Spanish cast. A double cast in which the American baritone Edward Nelson and the Spanish Alejando Sánchez stand out in the role of Orfeo. It is completed by the Spanish singers Sylvia Schwartz and Natalia Labourdette (Eurídice); María Rey-Joly and Isabella Gaudí (The Princess); Mikeldi Atxlandabaso and Igor Peral (Heurtebise) and Pablo García-López and Emmanuel Faraldo (Cégeste).
Between September 21 and 25, only five functions will be offered in the Red Hall of the Canal Theatres, now under the artistic direction of Blanca Li. With this premiere, the Real also joins the commemoration of the centenary of María Casares, the legendary Galician actress who settled in France with her exiled republican fathers who eventually became the great lady of the French scene and starred in Cocteau’s trilogy on Orfeo .
Cocteau directed his ‘Orphée’ after he lost his beloved –Raymond Radiguet– at the age of 20. His exploration of the myth of loss, his denial and mourning – which includes nods to Gluck’s Orpheus – is expressed as “the successive deaths a poet must go through before he becomes himself”.
The death of his partner, designer and multimedia artist Candy Jernigan, also prompted Philip Glass to pay this double homage with what would become the first title in a trilogy of completely independent chamber operas based on Cocteau. The others are ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Terrible Children’.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
