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Orpheus and Eurydice

 
Mark Harding Review by Mark Harding 5 Published: 14 Aug 2025 Edinburgh Playhouse Show Dates: 13 Aug 2025-16 Aug 2025

This isn’t a production for purists, but then opera isn’t pure; it has always been about noise, spectacle, and danger. Part of the wonder of opera is that so many things could go wrong. There is always risk. So why not add aerial artists without safety nets and acrobats tumbling from bone-breaking heights?

The senses are bombarded in a production that excels in every component

Directed, set designed, and co-choreographed by Yaron Lifschitz of Circa, this is total theatre: all the senses are bombarded in a production that excels in every component. It is also a production where the director’s vision is paramount. The show is dominated by stark images – black, white, or bold red against a dazzling white background. Even the surtitles are a work of art.

The overture begins, and a slit in the curtain reveals a woman in a red dress, precariously twisting and turning on ropes that seem to reach the sky. (The Playhouse’s huge stage is used to full effect.) The audience gasps; many more will follow.

Lifschitz’s staging is modern – the action plays out in Orpheus’s mind while he lies in a mental institution. Rather than a straightforward adventure, we witness an interrogation of the big questions: desire, fantasy, loss, and death. This focus on Orpheus’s mental state allows for high spectacle. The stage can be flooded with tumbling acrobats or aerial doubles, because here, any man is Orpheus and any woman is Eurydice.

Lifschitz notes that Gluck included extensive ballet sequences, so using those passages for acrobats does not detract from the singing or action – it’s how the opera was designed. I have seen my share of circus shows, and these are the most elegant, fluid acrobatics I have ever witnessed.

Countertenor Iestyn Davies as Orpheus and soprano Samantha Clarke in the dual role of Eurydice and Amor are outstanding. Despite the spectacle, they are never overwhelmed, and when the singing should dominate, it does. The sung dialogue beginning “Come satisfy your husband” would be gorgeous enough to overcome a hurricane. In the end, this opera belongs to Orpheus, and its success rests on the shoulders of the singer in that role. Davies rises to the challenge of all the strange stage business required of him, singing throughout with indefatigable clarity and emotion.

In the original myth, Orpheus takes a fatal risk and causes Eurydice’s second death, the gods’ trickery proving that death is inevitable. Gluck and his librettist, Calzabigi, added a further twist – Amor reunites the lovers to show that love can triumph over everything.

Lifschitz adds another layer. The opera closes with the massive stage covered by corpses, followed by a final shocking, dazzling image that burns into the mind and lingers long after the curtain falls.

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The Blurb:

EUROPEAN PRODUCTION PREMIERE

Journey to the underworld and back with Opera Australia, presenting Opera Queensland’s production of Orpheus and Eurydice in association with Circa.

Heartbroken Orpheus has the chance to rescue his wife Eurydice from the underworld. But there's one condition: he mustn’t look at her during their long journey home. Can he resist the temptation to gaze into his true love’s eyes?

Soaring vocals, hypnotic visuals and acrobatic feats plunge you into an ancient tale of love, lust and loss. Gramophone Award-winning countertenor Iestyn Davies stars as Orpheus, haunted by visions of Eurydice, performed by Australian soprano Samantha Clarke. As Orpheus descends into insanity, Eurydice’s own descent into the underworld takes magnificent, aerial form.

Circa joins with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a chorus from Scottish Opera for the European premiere of this electrifying production of Gluck’s seminal opera.

Supported by James and Morag Andersonwith additional support from Vivienne and Robin Menzies

Listen on Soundcloud or Spotify.

Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

A souvenir programme and a keepsake freesheet are available at the venue for this performance.