Opening Night at Lyric Opera is always a glittery, red-carpet affair that no other Chicago arts organization does so grandly. Such was the case last Saturday evening complete with limousines, many men in tuxedos and ladies in their formal finery and scurrying photographers seeking to capture all the early spectacle.
Joffrey Ballet & Dmitry Korchak
© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2017
The work chosen to kick off Lyric’s 63rd season was “Orphee et Eurydice” by Christoph Willibald Gluck. An added attraction was the participation of 43 dancers from the Joffrey Ballet, with which the Lyric has just announced an artistic partnership to start with the 2020-21 season.
In this production, Orphee is a contemporary choreographer and his wife, Eurydice is the company’s star ballerina who suffers a fatal accident. The opera, directed, choreographed and designed by John Neumeier, head of the Hamburg Ballet, was dazzling in its dance sequences and beautifully sung by its three perfectly-matched leads.
Dmitry Korchak
Special praise goes to Russian tenor, Dmitry Korchak, whose rich voice was without strain and a pleasure to listen to. He conveyed Orphee’s grief over Eurydice’s death convincingly along with his resolve to descend to Hades and rescue her. Andriana Chuchman as Eurydice and Lauren Snouffer as Amour provided stellar accompaniment, particularly in the “Tendre Amour” trio near the end.
Ticket holders should know that Gluck wrote two versions of this story, a fact I hadn’t realized before Saturday’s performance. The last time Lyric presented the work in 2006 (which I attended), it was Gluck’s original 1762 Italian version, performed by noted counter-tenor, David Daniels. I totally enjoyed that staging and mistakenly thought that is what I would be seeing.
Not so. Gluck reworked his score for a 1774 French version that had Orphee’s castrato role now sung by a tenor along with extensive additions of dance music that rendered it more of a danced opera. I give Neumeier great credit for effectively blending the production’s disparate elements and instilling freshness into the 243-year-old opera (with kudos to Lyric’s orchestra and chorus).
Yet, I regretted his downplaying of the tale’s rich drama. Orphee and Eurydice’s reunion and horrible loss seems to happen in an instant compared to all the terpsichore (although I’ve seldom seen the Joffrey dance better).
The Opening Night version struck me as wan by comparison with Lyric’s 2006 production. The evening damped down the opera’s emotional heart. Neumeier chose a cooler narrative, one that prioritized the dance elements.
For example, near the end, as Orphee seeks to heal from the devastating loss of his beloved for a second time, Amour tells him to “savor the beauty of love”. There followed a lovely imaginary waltz between Orphee and a ghostly Eurydice. This seemed the poignant and perfect moment on which to end the opera. Instead, Orphee retreats to the back of the stage and we witness an extended, exuberant dance. For Neumeier, who replaced the happy ending of Gluck’s French version only to end with such a light-hearted frolic, seemed like the wrong move.
This production has much to recommend it–fine singing, appealing ballet sequences and Gluck’s music–and will delight many. It simply left me, however, with mixed emotions. Give me Italian Gluck!
Five more performances of “Orphee et Eurydice” remain through October 15. For dates and to purchase tickets, go to www.lyricopera.org.