Entertainment

An ‘Orpheus’ to die for

Death be not proud, but Paris Opera Ballet should be — of its stunning production of Pina Bausch’s “Orpheus and Eurydice,” the tale of the man who dared to rescue his bride from the underworld, only to lose her again when he looked back at her.

The company’s Lincoln Center season was filled with impressive showpieces of classical ballet; it closed this weekend with a top-notch example of dance-theater by the mistress of the form, the late German choreographer Pina Bausch.

Bausch originally set the German baroque opera for her own group in 1975, and her take is austere. Gluck tacked a happy ending onto the Greek myth: The couple are reunited by the Goddess of Love. Bausch removed that for a mournful close truer to the original story, but bleak.

The chorus stayed in the pit, but the lead singers were onstage with the dancers. Orpheus, Eurydice and Love — the main characters — were each played by two people: one singing, one silent. Orpheus was danced by a man, but sung by mezzo-soprano Maria Riccarda Wesseling.

The piece is a striking mix of movement, theater and music. The company’s elegant dancers were backed by Bausch’s simple yet grand theatrical strokes, such as a large tree lying uprooted on the stage. She created some images so unforgettable they give you chills.

In the second scene, “Violence,” three imposing rows of narrow chairs too tall to sit on lined one side of the stage like an empty jury box. Souls in this limbo raced or stumbled about blindly attached to their chairs by strings. The music was grave and desperate. Suddenly the harp burst through like hope itself as Wesseling pleaded, and the chorus thundered angrily in response.

All the singing was glorious, but Wesseling had the lion’s share of the vocals and carried the opera with a restrained, gripping performance.

Marie-Agnès Gillot, the senior ballerina who danced Eurydice, also commanded the stage. Tall and gaunt, her body shivered uncontrollably as she moved toward her beloved to beg him for a single look.

Alas, the weak link was the dancing Orpheus, Stéphane Bullion. He was handsome, but clean dancing with little emotion wasn’t enough. To dance this Orpheus, you have to know how to grieve.