The Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is one such tale. Musically talented Orpheus must use his skills to charm his way into the underworld to rescue his new wife, Eurydice, who died from snake bite.
That a man would literally go to hell for someone he loves “is a story that still resonates,” says Marshall Pynkoski, artistic director of Opera Atelier, which presents Orpheus and Eurydice beginning Thursday.
“He is the heroic character who makes the ultimate sacrifice: he is willing to lose his life in order to find out what happens when you penetrate that realm (of the underworld).”
There have been dozens and dozens of operas based on this love story including L’Orfeo in 1607 by Monteverdi; Louis Lully’s Orphée from 1690; Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1762), Georg Philipp Telemann’s Orpheus (1726) and, in the present day, the 1993 Orphée by Philip Glass.
Conductor David Fallis, who will lead the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra at the performance, says Jacques Offenbach wrote Orpheus in the Underworld in 1858 to poke fun at the well-trodden road to Hades taken by other composers. He inserted comic antics, including “cancan” music and dancing.
Rescuing a beautiful woman from a dragon or a tower or a witch is a well-known story arc, says Fallis: “Knights in shining armour and damsels in distress are as old as the hills.”
Orpheus fits nicely within the tradition of “rescue operas” of the 18th and 19th centuries, he says, adding that after the French Revolution many featured stories about political persecution.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, is the story of a wife who disguises herself as a man to gain entrance to his jail cell and free him.
Mozart’s Abduction From the Seraglio is a comedy detailing the return of women who’ve been captured by a sultan amidst a series of misadventures with their men folk.
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André Grétry’s Richard Coeur-de-lion (1784) involved the rescue of Richard the Lionheart of England during the Crusades.
Opera Atelier most recently produced Gluck’s Orpheus opera in 2007, but this will mark the company’s first exploration of the 1859 Berlioz version, in which the role of Orpheus is scored for a female contralto.
Canadian mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel is Orpheus in her first major role for Opera Atelier. The production also features Peggy Kriha Dye as Eurydice and Meghan Lindsay as Amour (the god who supports Orpheus’s quest).
Pynkoski points out that Berlioz wrote the music to showcase singer Pauline Viardot, a major star of the day.
Lebel, who is almost 6 feet tall, is used to singing “pants roles,” portraying a man.
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Orpheus is “a little foolhardy” in his quest, she says. “But I’m hell-bent to go down there and get her,” she says, laughing.
Orpheus and Eurydice is at the Elgin Theatre April 9 to 18. Go to http://www.ticketmaster.ca/ ticketmaster.caEND for tickets.
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