Customer Reviews

Orpheus und Eurydike by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Opera-Dance by Pina Bausch (Opéra national de Paris 2008) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dance (in bare feet) overshadows the singing in this production of the operatic masterpiece by Christoph W. Gluck premiered in 1762. His goal was "noble simplicity" and he concluded with a happy scene in which Amor revivified dead Orpheus and twice-dead Eurydike to resume their love. This production, however, respects their death.

The three principal roles are movingly danced and sung by Yann Bridard & Maria Riccarda Wesseling (Orpheus), Marie-Agnes Gillot & Julia Kleiter (Eurydike), and Miteki Kudo & Sunhae Im (Amor). The singers appear onstage and remain in character. Orpheus appears throughout, and Eurydike dances in the last two scenes. Most dramatic are the emotionally charged corps and chorus. The costumes designed by Bausch's romantic partner Rolf Borzik (died 1980) for the 1975 premiere are marvels of fluidity (thanks of course to execution by the current costume department). The excellent filming and editing was overseen by Vincent Bataillon.

THE SCENES

(1) Introduction & (2) Grief. At audience-left in a high chair is Eurydike (?) in a white shroud/wedding dress, blood red roses in her lap, looking down passively on her burial site. Black-garbed mourners, more women than men, cringe and twist beneath a black sky, in strict adherence to musical beat. Their arms and hands are in relentless motion, outdancing their feet. At audience-right, Orpheus, in "nude" briefs, stands rigid, before a brown uprooted cedar skeleton. Then he lies face down before a great laurel wreath. The mourners file off, and he rises to dance an agonized solo as he beseeches the gods to return his dead loved one. Thus appears Amor, who tells him he can invade the Underworld and reclaim Eurydike but must not look into her face. [Here, as well as in Scene 3, Ms Bausch is remarkably creative in distributing her dancers over the width and depth of the stage and animating the subgroups with different activities.]

(3) Violence. In the anteroom to hell three leather aproned men alarm the denizens, some in winding sheets. The music is demonic. Orpheus enters. One woman carries a yarn basket, and white skeins (the thread of life) intersect the excited corps. But Orpheus' beautiful lyre melody elicits a change, and merciful passage beyond the bronze door to his lost bride.

(4) Peace. Women in palest pink dance silkily to the music of blessed souls in a peaceful subterranean meadow. From among them Eurydike, now a contented shade, emerges for a beautiful solo. Orpheus enters and looks for her, then realizes she is behind him as she takes his hand, and he leads her away.

(5) Death. The great stage is enclosed by towering walls dwarfing the characters. Orpheus leads Eurydike in a flame red dress, not yet beyond the province of hell. Their vocal counterparts are onstage and the soprano expresses Eurydike's rising indignation because Orpheus inexplicably will not so much as look at her. Eurydike's extended solo is like a flame darting, swirling about the stage. Pushed to his edge, Orpheus finally turns to her, embraces her, she dies in his arms. Her vocal counterpart falls to the ground, his vocal counterpart kneels beside, Orpheus lays his Eurydike atop her double, and retreats to a far corner. The mezzo-soprano then dominates the stage, still kneeling, for 8 minutes singing "I have lost my Eurydike." (This stasis did seem overlong to me, and lessened the dramatic impact.) In the ensuing silence, the three aproned beings appear and take the life of Orpheus, the music resumes and mourners appear. The body of Orpheus is placed at significant remove from Eurydike's, failing to assure us husband and wife will ever embrace again.

AT CALLS...

the enthusiastic audience metamorphoses into rhythmic clapping. Also, finally the Balthasar-Neumann Chorus assembles onstage, and leader Thomas Hengelbrock is led on to sweep his BN Ensemble to their feet--both chorus and musicians have certainly demonstrated artistry perfected. Then Pina Bausch is brought on to roaring appreciation. Looking frail but strong in spirit, she was to die four months after this filming.

FOOTNOTE

Rather than the usual plastic case, the DVD is held inside the back cover of a colorful 36-page book in English, French, and German. The opera is sung in German and subtitles are available in these three languages as well as Spanish and Italian.

Stage action in many of these early operas is minimal so combining the singing with action in the form of ballet adds to the visual appeal IF that ballet is appropriate to the libretto and singing. Very fortunately the interpretive dance choreographed by Pina Bausch is just that. She first experimented with it in 1975 and this production is a revival of that. The mezzo soprano Maria Riccarda Wesseling has a gorgious voice ideally suited to the role of Orpheus and her role is shadowed by the dancer Yann Bridard.

On first acquaintance this dance-opera interpretation can seem odd and I found it required more than a single viewing to decide if it was personally appealing - and untimately yes it was. The music is beautifully played and sung under the direction of Thomas Hengelbrock which combined with very effective costuming and lighting comes across superbly in the Blu Ray format. The audio quality is appropriately first class.

Highly recommended.

In general I agree with other reviewers on this. More ballet than opera which is okay, as little to see in opera version, lends itself more to dance. The choreography is quite complex, creative and flowing, and quite satisfying. The weakness is in attempting to bring it to video. Often, with other works, I feel that I am seeing an opera or video better at home than live, as the camera can come up close, feature movements, emotions that would be hard to see from twenty rows back in the opera house. In this case, there are so many centers of interest going on at once at different parts of the stage that it is almost impossible to film in any meaningful way. The film director has the choice of simply locking down the camera at the back of the house so we can see the entire stage, not missing any of the action, but also not seeing anything in close up, or attempting to go in close on some actions, but then losing others. Often, I felt that the camera would cut away from something that I was attending to, to feature some other action of lesser interest. Toward the end of the opera, the cameraman and director seemed to have a more consistent, artistically valid rationale for camera movement and cutting, but by then I was sufficiently irritated by wrong choices that it spoiled, at least in part, my enjoyment. Still, awkwardness of filming aside, this is still a stunningly choreographed and performed work, well worth owning and seeing.

I love this opera and I love ballet, so I put this dvd in my wish list for Christmas. I got it. The music is wonderful and the singing is excellent. At the end, they all got a prolongued standing ovation from the entire Paris Opera House, and I'm sure they deserve it. But it was modern dance not ballet, and the entire going ons by the dancers seemed extrenous, superfluous to the music and singing, not an extension of it. There is no explanation of why Orpheus appears naked and three of the male dancers are wearing leather aprons, or why a couple of the male dancers appear to be dressed in black suits. I personally, did not like it.

Many of the dance sequences were boring and seemed to go on interminably, distracting from the music,

This naked Orpheus did not look at all like the mythical demigod of the story, but just like a young, regular, male dancer.

The best visual part of this DVD is the picture in front.

My wife and I saw the original performance in February 2008 and have been waiting since than for this DVD.

Just as exciting as the original performance! Pina Bausch passed away shortly afterward but we have learned about her from that time.

The German choreographer Pina Bausch seeks to combine elements in their work. Theater, music and modern dance reflecting human feelings. This was attempted by many, but few can have a unique style. His trademark is the stage dance, several times turned to popular music, text, extreme creativity. The risk is part of your DNA, never settled, always sought innovation. His work combines despair, suffering and sorrow with the "warm expression of love for life."

Often draws on personal biography of his dancers, forget the plot and makes the individual the center of attention. His body language is unique, incisive, provocative. This is the differential, the peculiar and creative choreographer found to produce.

Orpheus und Eurydike is your personal reading of Greek myth. Transforms the music of Christoph W. Gluck in dance, but not forget the roots of the work. The song is present in three characters, recounting the joys and anxieties of the Greek god of music in search of his beloved deceased. Each character has his double, a dancer and a singer. The singers are outstanding: Maria Ricarda Wesseling (Orpheus), Julia Kleiter (Euridike) and Im Sunhae (Love), play their characters just right. Accompany the dancers and interact with them.

The dance is the central theme, the music flows to the plot, but the steps tell the story. The distribution of the dancers on the stage is differentiated scenic. Width, depth and subgroups show the unique style of the choreographer.

Orpheus is played by Yann Bridard: the Greek god is naked, desperate search for his beloved, his lyre is the weapon. Enthralls all who are on their way with agile steps, deep, dramatic. Never expressed much smaller movements.

Love, Mitek Kudo, allows the descent into hell, a lyrical passage persongem trying to join. But the fate of man and even the gods is sealed.

Marie-Agnès Gillot is étoile dancer. His final scene shows the weaknesses and rediscover the joys of her lover, but this does not look for it. Dismayed, she provokes, irritates. Its motion-sensitive, sometimes brusque, sometimes fast, feminine feelings show.

Pina Bausch knows combine modern dance with traditional opera. The choreography is essential in his work, but his theatrical concept is not restricted. The light, the scenarios mirrored the colors of the costumes and silence are important in driving the plot. Choreography that creatively tells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, without exaggerations or fabrications. The only flaw is in the subtitle: it often does not translate the text, leaving much of the work without subtitles.

PORTUGUESE:

A coreógrafa alemã Pina Bausch busca a junção de elementos em seu trabalho. Teatro, música e dança moderna refletindo os sentimentos humanos. Isso já foi tentado por muitos, mas poucos conseguem ter um estilo próprio. Sua marca registrada está na dança cênica, diversas vezes ligada à música popular, ao texto, à criatividade extrema. O risco faz parte de seu DNA, nunca se acomodou, sempre buscou a inovação. Seu trabalho combina desespero, sofrimento e tristeza com a "expressão calorosa de amor à vida".

Muitas vezes se inspira na biografia pessoal de seus bailarinos, esquece o enredo e torna o indivíduo o centro das atenções. Sua linguagem corporal é única, contundente, provocativa. Esse é o diferencial, a maneira peculiar e criativa que a coreógrafa encontrou para produzir.

Orpheus und Eurydike é sua leitura pessoal do mito grego. Transforma a música de Christoph W. Gluck em dança, mas não esquece as raízes da obra. O canto está presente em três personagens, relatando as angústias e alegrias do deus da música grega em busca de sua amada falecida. Cada personagem tem seu duplo, um bailarino e um cantor. O cantores são exímios: Maria Ricarda Wesseling (Orpheus), Julia Kleiter (Euridike) e Sunhae Im (Amor), desempenham seus personagens na medida certa. Acompanham os dançarinos e interagem com eles.

A dança é o tema central, a música flui o enredo, mas os passos contam a história. A distribuição dos dançarinos pelo palco cênico é diferenciada. Largura, profundidade e subgrupos mostram o estílo único da coreógrafa.

Orpheus é interpretado por Yann Bridard: o deus grego está nu, desesperado em busca de sua amada, sua lira é a arma . Enfeitiça todos que estão no seu caminho com passos ágeis, profundos, dramáticos. Nunca pequenos movimentos expressaram tanto.

Amor, de Miteki Kudo, permite a descida aos infernos, passagem lírica de uma persongem que tenta unir. Mas o destino do homem e até o dos deuses está selado.

Marie-Agnes Gillot é bailarina étoile. Sua cena final mostra as fraquezas e alegrias de reencontrar seu amado, mas este não olha para ela. Consternada, ela provoca, irrita. Seus movimentos sensíveis, ora bruscos, ora rápidos, demonstram sentimentos femininos.

Pina Bausch sabe conciliar dança moderna com ópera tradicional. A coreografia é essencial na sua obra, mas sua noção teatral não é restrita . A luz, os cenários espelhados, as cores dos figurinos e o silêncio são importantes na condução do enredo. Coreografia que relata com criatividade o mito de Orfeu e Eurídice, sem exageros ou invencionices. A única falha está na legendagem: muitas vezes ela não traduz o texto, ficando boa parte da obra sem legendas.

Ali Hassan Ayache

This was recorded a year before she suddenly passed away and to see her take a bow at the end is a wonderful thing. I saw a performance by her company in the early eighties and having to wait another thirty years to see another performance has not diminished my admiration of her. My concern is of the film work itself. It is a dance opera but the director of the video is focused too much on recording the dancers and not the singers, thus sometimes it is difficult to view everything that is going on the stage. Watching it made me realise that for all her accolades as a contemporary creator of dance drama she was very rooted in conventional dance, not that I am complaining, the work is stunning. It is haunting and very emotionally engaginq.