OPERA REVIEW: Orfeo Ed Euridice - The Theatre Royal, Nottingham.

In marked contrast to Opera North’s season opener, 'La Traviata', Gluck’s 'Orfeo Ed Eurdice' is a slow-breathed meditation on love and the nature of loss, set to music of almost unearthly purity. 

Stagings, in this country at least, tend to be few and far between and it’s not difficult to see why: apart from the dramatic confrontation between the bereaved Orfeo and his beloved Euridice, it’s a static piece in which an inordinate amount of the vocal heavy-lifting is left to the singer (baritone, alto, mezzo, counter-tenor and, in the distant past, castrato) essaying Orfeo. It doesn’t help that for much of the First Act, Orfeo is required to express themselves in terms of the most generalised grief: glum people aren’t fun to be around, even when they have a perfectly valid reason for their glumness.  

Fortunately, this production (it’s advertised as a ‘concert staging’ but it’s actually far more than that) featured Alice Coote in the demanding role of the bereaved husband. This was a high definition acting performance, not a recital - thought out and acted out in the way the best operatic acting always is, and that’s before we move on to the singing, which was magnificent in its expressiveness. She is well-paired with Fflur Wyn, whose progress within the company has been a pleasure to observe, as Euridice and their eventual confrontation fairly sizzled with intensity - Orfeo’s turning to face Euridice drawing a gasp of horror from the audience. Completing the principal roles was Daisy Brown as Amor, the orchestrator of the whole venture, who in a nice touch wore the garish mauve jacket of a reality show host.  

Which brings us to the staging: no director is mentioned in publicity but thought has clearly gone into the look of the presentation and the performers move purposefully with the action suited to the word.  The chorus assembles beneath a starry sky and the sole prop is a plynth to represent Euridice’s tomb and the platform in the Underworld from which she confronts Orfeo. Nothing more is needed if you have intelligent singing actors and an excellent chorus.  

In the pit, the company’s principal guest conductor Antony Hermus presided with enthusiastic authority. It’s hard to imagine a more effective staging of a difficult masterpiece than this one. 

Reviewer - Paul Ashcroft
on - 9.11.22