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By Rebecca Wallace, Palo Alto Weekly
You can pay more and travel farther to see opera in a grand hall. But the intimate Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto is ideally suited to Gluck’s 1762 opera “Orfeo ed Euridice,” which focuses in on one relationship: a man’s undying love for his wife.
Christoph Willibald Gluck’s music is also more restrained than what the composer saw as the excesses of earlier operas. One wants to be up close to appreciate Gluck’s elegant “Reform Opera,” and at West Bay Opera the experience is rewarding. The score is stately, poignant and melodic under the capable baton of conductor Jose Luis Moscovich.
From the orchestra pit, one can feel the love and loss of the story. Orfeo’s young wife, Euridice, dies from a snake bite, and the devastated man journeys to the underworld to search for her. He is ultimately allowed to bring her back, but not to look at her until they are once again among mortals.
This is a timeless tale based on myth, and it demands powerful emotion, particularly when the audience is so near. In this respect, though, the current production is weaker.
Orfeo is often portrayed by a woman; here, mezzo-soprano Sarah Barber plays the demanding role. On opening night, her performance seemed muted, as though weighted to the stage by heavy, masculine footfalls. I was expecting more grief and passion from a character who would go to hell and back for a woman. I also had trouble making out passages sung in Barber’s lower register, as voice dueled with orchestra to be heard.
Barber’s sound did grow in strength throughout the evening. By the third act, as Orfeo questions how he can live without Euridice, her “Che faro senza Euridice?” was clear and touching.
The chemistry between Orfeo and Euridice (Maria Alu) was a bit flat, making it hard to believe in the love that is so central to the story. Still, their voices made a satisfying blend. Alu’s soprano voice was remarkably free, its effortless quality brightening every scene she was in, and her acting natural. Euridice’s desperation when her husband will not meet her eyes must be believable or the scene can fall into melodrama, and Alu achieved just the right balance.
The character of Amore (Shawnette Sulker), god of love, introduces lighter moments into the opera, as she appears to give Orfeo word from Jove or stay his suicidal hand. Maria Crush must have especially enjoyed costuming Amore, who wears pigtails and a pert pink tutu, and carries Orfeo’s lyre in a backpack with her name on it. The audience laughed every time Amore came on stage — which she did on a bicycle with a pink balloon.
Notably strong in this production were the set and video designs by Jean-Francois Revon. Spare, minimalist set pieces conveyed the darkness of Euridice’s funeral and the gloom of the underworld. Revon made excellent use of color in the Elysian Fields scene, when the set opened to reveal a video view of clouds against a brilliant blue sky. Crush dressed the chorus in floaty pastels, adding to the ethereal feeling.
The San Francisco-based Kunst-Stoff Dance Company collaborated with West Bay Opera in the production. Dancers had passionate moments in pairs, reflecting the tale’s abiding love. In other places they were distracting, circling before Euridice’s coffin in a manner that felt aimless.
As dark creatures at the gates of Hades, though, the dancers were mystical and threatening, surrounding Orfeo with fire-colored fabric and pulling him down into the underworld, ending the scene with power.
INFORMATION: “Orfeo ed Euridice,” with music by Christoph Willibald Gluck and libretto by Ranieri de Calzabigi, will be presented by West Bay Opera at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Cost: general-admission tickets are $55 for front seating and $45 for rear seating. Seniors pay $40/$30, and youth/student tickets are $25/$20. Go to www.wbopera.org or call 650-424-9999.
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