For never was a story of more woe than this of Euridice ed her Orfeo*

As a sports and culture writer who knows next to nothing about sports, and who is a complete philistine, I have had a big handful of struggles producing articles that I was sure would fit the brief.

This one, however, I’m absolutely sure I’ve got the right idea.

Dearest reader, allow me to tell you all about the Vancouver Opera’s presentation of Orfeo ed Euridice, taking place Sunday, December 5 at 2 o’clock.

Orfeo ed Euridice is a story that came to my attention in a pedestrian sort of way – through a video game.  Sparing you the nerdy details, the video game is called Hades and centers around Greek mythological figures.

Orpheus and Eurydice are two of those figures.  You find out, via the game’s procedural storytelling, all about the tragedy of Orpheus’ tendency to look over his shoulder.  Orpheus is painted as this Robert Smith figure (hair included, mind you), mewling about his lost love.

The titular Orfeo of Sunday’s performance, I imagine, will be at least 10% less goth.

Director/choreographer Idan Cohen has blended movement and music into this classic Gluck work, promising operagoers unique, groundbreaking visuals, accompanied by the sounds of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by maestro Leslie Dala.

An interesting tidbit about Orfeo: classically, this part was written for either an alto or soprano castrato  (because the opera was written in the 18th century, of course, but yikesor a countertenor.

This rendition, though, has cast a mezzo-soprano lady by the name of Mireille Lebel!  I’m a huge fan of gender-agnostic casting, so this performance is sure to be super cool, indeed!

Tickets are super limited but, at time of writing, not yet sold out.  You can try to snag yourself some here – absolutely nothin’ wrong with a little bit of balcony seating with such a visually and aurally delightful performance!

*just kidding, it actually has a happy ending.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *