It’s one of the most oft retold stories of Greek mythology. The beautiful Eurydice, beloved of the musician Orpheus, dies and is confined to Hades. Orpheus uses his musical magic to secure her release, but fails a crucial condition and loses her for good.
The Bohemian composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, born midway between Handel and Mozart, turned the tale into an opera revolutionary in its directness, rejecting florid baroque vocalism. Subsequently revised by Gluck and others, the original 1762 version is getting its first Dallas Opera performances in a Joachim Schamberger production no less revolutionary than the music was in its day.
In modern settings and dress, Eurydice’s “death” here is rendered as dementia, from which Orpheus tries to free her. Singing in the original Italian, with English supertitles, countertenor Hugh Cutting portrays Orpheus, with sopranos Madison Leonard as Eurydice and Amber Norelai as Amor (Love). Music director Emmanuel Villaume leads the Dallas Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
Details
7:30 p.m. Feb. 7, 12 and 15, and 2 p.m. Feb. 9 at Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St. 214-443-1000, dallasopera.org. The Feb. 15 performance will be livestreamed free on the Dallas Opera’s YouTube channel and at digital.dallasopera.org.
