Peabody goes back,
ensemble in the now

Orfeo, electronics focus of shows

by Tim Smith, SUN Music Critic
 

Last weekend’s aural possiblilties included chronological extremes—a visit to the very earliest days of opera and a taste of some new and recent music for flute, clarinet and computer. As It turned out, decidedly contemporary elements spiced that ancient operatic experience, too.

Opera officially dates to the 1590s, but the first extant work that fully meets the terms of the genre is Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo from 1607. This telling of the mythological tale of Orpheus descending into the underworld to retrieve his beloved lacks the theatrical sweep of the composer’s Coronation of Poppea, written more than three decades later, but it boasts a still-astonishing richness of musical ideas. Many of them came through effectively in the Peabody Chamber Opera’s presentation at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

On Saturday night, Ryan de Ryke sang the title role with considerable eloquence and, for the most part, technical ease. His phrasing proved particularly telling in the extended aria, Possente spirito, which lulls Charon to sleep and enables Orpheus to enter Hades. The rest of the cast sang with varying degrees of finish but served the score honorably.

JESSE HELLMAN

Ryan de Ryke as Orfeo

The production was fortunate to have a hearty ensemble of period instruments providing the distinctive sound of history—theorbo, sackbut, recorder, harpsichord and the rest. Webb Wiggins conducted from the keyboard with gentle propulsion and lyrical grace.

Director Roger Brunyate typically puts a lot of thought into his stagings. He may have put a little too much into this one. The trouble started during the orchestral opening of the opera, which became background music for the acting out of a contemporary wedding. Bride and groom (Euridice and Orpheus) no sooner tied the knot than gunfire from an unseen assailant broke out, killing her, wounding him. Orpheus spent the rest of the opera in and out of a wheelchair. A long note from Brunyate in the program explained all this with references to random violence, 9/11, feverish visions and coping with grief (he left out the D.C. sniper).

I certainly don’t need mythology served up in literal fashion, and there’s certainly plenty of room for theatrical innovation with an opera like this one. But I wasn’t convinced by the overall concept. The bloody wedding, in particular, seemed like a cheap shot. Still, some aspects of the production, which unfolded fluidly on a mostly bare stage, proved persuasive. And Mary Bova’s costumes neatly encompassed multiple eras (tri-cornered hats made an appearance, as did the modern-day tuxedo), helping point up the timeless features in the story.

The remainder of this article—which was published in the BALTIMORE SUN, Tuesday, March 11, 2003—deals with an electronic music concert by the New Music Ensemble at Towson University.

Further Information Essay A Ritual of Music Program note A Modern Orfeo?
Production photographs by Jesse Hellman Home