Opera Review: EURYDICE (LA Opera)
Thus was born Eurydice, a heartbreaking, stinging, slick new opera about the well-known Greek myth that is kind of like an ancient version of the Stanford marshmallow experiment: The gifted musician Orpheus loses his wife and gets the chance to win her back if he can lead her out of hell without looking back. Tragically, he can’t help looking, and she dies again.
Mary Zimmerman directs the LA Opera world premiere production, which opens with a delightful beach scene; it’s the kind of time spent with romantic leads that seems to be missing in so much opera. Orpheus and Eurydice speak in loverese; they slip from the mundane to the mushy and back again, just like real lovers; Eurydice (Los Angeles native Danielle de Niese) plaintively asks, multiple times, “Tell me what you are thinking”, in the slightly anxious tones of any partner who knows her other half’s mind is somewhere else. It’s a nice contrast to start the action in the middle of the drama and lovely to get to know the determined and devoted Eurydice, who gets the marriage proposal she wants.
