Review: ORPHEE ET EURYDICE at Grand Théâtre

To wrap up our very busy week, we attended the opera Orphée et Eurydice, by Christoph Willibald Gluck. This formidable version was directed by Aurélien Bory and conducted by Václav Luks, at the helm of the Collegium 1704 orchestra. In this timeless tale of love and tragedy, the hero Orpheus (Marie-Claude Chappuis) ventures to the depths of the underworld to retrieve his deceased wife, Eurydice (Mirella Hagen), only to discover that even when working under the grace of gods, fate can be very hard to overcome.

The gold: The directing. Our top praise rarely goes to the direction of a show, but it this case there is simply no way around it - almost every single scene was good in its own right, delivering value in way more than just acting, singing, dancing and orchestral music. This is not to say that individual elements did not stand out, they very much did, but there was simply so much art surrounding the performers that we can do nothing but take our hats off to Aurélien Bory and his team. Much of this result came from the setting and how the cast was blocked, in relation to the large leaning mirror at the back of the stage. There were so many layers of action on top of the added perspective, especially when combining the main actresses with the rest of the ensemble. Eurydice’s burial, just to name one of several brilliant moments, is quite frankly one of the best scenes we have seen since we have started covering Luxembourg.

The silver: The group numbers. The sheer strength and passion of their collective voice would be enough to give them a place on our podium, but there was still the amazing physical expression. The way they marked the entrance to the underworld was perhaps one of their best moments, managing to create a dantesque and hellish atmosphere, while singing right from the floor. A couple of choreographies seemed slightly out of place, like the ones elevating the main cast, but all the rest were in perfect sync with the spirit and theme of the story.

The bronze:  Chappuis and Hagen, our two leading ladies. In this line of art, swapping the gender of a character is usually either a winning bet or a bold risk. The way we see it, the choice to cast Chappuis as Orpheus did not improve, nor damage the play. Perhaps seeing how normal it felt was, in itself, a victory, but if there was any additional idea, symbolism or message, we do not believe it materialized. Apart from one or two moments when the orchestra sounded louder than her singing, Chappuis delivered a wonderful rendition with a great deal of heartfelt emotion. Hagen’s role had far less stage time, which is a shame because her performance was remarkable. Some of the strongest direction choices also happened around her character, which in no way diminishes her achievements, but certainly amplifies them. The waves of darkness produced behind her body during the climax of the story made her sorrowful singing, as well as her frozen and ghostly whiteness hit very, very deep.

As usual, our thanks to the Grand Théâtre and everyone involved.

To reach out to the writer: nuno.de.sousa.lopes@gmail.com

Photo Credit: Stefan Brion