Orphée (Glass)

Orphée is a chamber opera in two acts and 18 scenes, for ensemble and soloists, composed in 1991 by Philip Glass, to a libretto (in French) by the composer, based on the scenario of the eponymous film (1950) by Jean Cocteau. Commissioned by the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, this is the first part of a trilogy in honour of the French poet. The world premiere of the work took place on 14 May 1993[1] under the direction of Martin Goldray[2] and the European premiere in London on 27 May 2005[3] in the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre.[4][5]

Orpheus by Cesare Gennari

Orphée was later performed at the Linz State Theatre, 21 January 2007,[6] at the Alice Busch Opera Theater of Cooperstown as part of the Glimmerglass Festival for ten days from 21 July 2007[7][8] at the Portland Opera (Keller Auditorium) for five days from 6 November 2009[9][10] Anne Manson conducting,[11] at the Herbst Theatre of San Francisco, 26 February 2011[12] [13] Nicole Paiement conducting,[14] at the George Mason University (Center for the Arts) of Fairfax for two days from 10 February 2012.[15][16][17]

In 2000, Paul Barnes produced a piano transcription entitled The Orphée Suite for Piano and first performed on 19 April 2001 at the Greenwich House Music School of New York.

A new production by English National Opera was premiered at the London Coliseum on 15 November 2019.[18]

Roles
Role Voice type Casting at the premiere,[19] 14 May 1993
Direction: Martin Goldray		 ENO production,[18] 15 November 2019

Director: Netia Jones

The Princess soprano Wendy Hill Jennifer France
Eurydice soprano Elizabeth Futral Sarah Tynan
Heurtebise tenor Richard Fracker Nicky Spence
Cégeste tenor Paul Kirby Anthony Gregory
Orphée baritone Eugène Perry Nicholas Lester
The Judge bass John Kuether Clive Bayley
The Poet bass James Ramlet Simon Shibambu
The Commissioner bass John Kuether Clive Bayley
Aglaonice mezzo-soprano Janice Felty Rachael Lloyd
The Reporter tenor Brian Mirabile William Morgan
Glazier tenor Brian Mirabile Adam Sullivan
Ensemble Linda Joy Adams
Charles Butler
Robert K. Dunn
Michael Glumicich
Rachael Lillis
Ken MacDonald
Stephen Spewock
Hester A. Tinti		 Antoine Salmon

Julia Daramy-Williams

Lydia Marchione

Suzanne Joyce

Paul Napier-Burrows

Robert Winslade Anderson

Andrew Tinkler

David Newman

James Liu

Christopher Speight

Anton Rich

Paul Sheehan

Cordula Treml

Structure
  • Act I
    • Scene 1, le Café
    • Scene 2, la Route
    • Scene 3, le Chalet
    • Scene 4, Chez Orphée
    • Scene 5, la Chambre d'Orphée
    • Scene 6, le Studio d'Orphée
    • Scene 7, le Bureau du Commissaire
    • Scene 8, la Poursuite
    • Scene 9, Chez Orphée
  • Act II
    • Scene 1, le Voyage aux Enfers
    • Scene 2, le Procès
    • Scene 3, Orphée et la Princesse
    • Scene 4, le Verdict
    • Scene 5, Interlude musical - le retour chez Orphée
    • Scene 6, Chez Orphée
    • Scene 7, le Studio d'Orphée
    • Scene 8, le Retour d'Orphée
    • Scene 9, la Chambre d'Orphée

Discography
  • The Orphée Suite for Piano, music by Philip Glass, transcription by Paul Barnes (piano), recorded in April 2001. Orange Mountain Music (2003).
  • The Portland Opera Orchestra conducted by Anne Manson, first full version recorded in November 2009. Orange Mountain Music (2010).[10]
  • The Orphée Suite for Flute, strings, and percussion , music by Philip Glass, transcription by James Strauss (flute) and Camerata Simon Bolivar, recorded in April 2017. Orange Mountain Music (2019).

Bibliography
  • Orphée: The Making of an Opera, Philip Glass, n.n editions (1993)[20][21] ISBN 3-930-05801-4
  • Orphee Suite For Piano (score), Philip Glass, Dunvagen Music Publishers (2006)[22] ISBN 1-846-09578-6
  • Orphée (the play), Le Livre de Poche, La Pochothèque (1995) ISBN 9782253132219
  • Orphée (scenario of the film), J'ai lu, Librio n°75 (2001) ISBN 2-290-31466-8

See also

The other operas of the trilogy are:

References
  1. Review/Opera; Philip Glass Looks Back at Cocteau's Orphee by Bernard Holland in The New York Times, 29 October 1993.
  2. Review/Opera: Glass's 'Orphee, Built on Cocteau's by Edward Rothstein in the New York Times, 21 May 1993.
  3. Orphée on the site of the Royal Opera House.
  4. Orphée, Linbury Studio, Royal Opera, London by Annette Morreau in The Independent, 30 May 2005.
  5. Orphée by Andrew Clements in The Guardian, 2 June 2005.
  6. Vertrauensbasis in Linz geschaffen by Ernst Scherzer in the Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung, 18 January 2007.
  7. ORPHEE, Glimmerglass Opera, 07/21/07 by Joseph Dalton in the Times Union, 22 July 2007.
  8. Four Trips to Hell and Back at the Opera, page 2 by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times 7 August 2007.
  9. Orphée on the site of the Oregon Public Broadcasting.
  10. Nipping Down to Hell With Philip Glass by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times, 29 July 2010.
  11. Biographie on her official website.
  12. Orphée by Philip Glass review: triumphant by Steven Winn in the San Francisco Chronicle, 1 March 2011.
  13. Orphée: Spellbinding!! by Ray Renati in the San Francisco Bay Times, 3 March 2011.
  14. Cocteau, Glass tell surrealistic Orpheus tale by Janos Gereben in The San Francisco Examiner, 23 February 2011.
  15. Matthew Worth sings Philip Glass Orphee by Emily Cary in the Washington Examiner, 6 February 2012.
  16. Virginia Opera's robust staging of Philip Glass Orphee by Terry Ponick in The Washington Times, 12 February 2012.
  17. Virginia Opera presents Philip Glass’s ‘Orphee’ at George Mason University by Anne Midgette in The Washington Post, 13 February 2012.
  18. Orphée ENO programme
  19. The American Repertory Theatre Reference Book: The Brustein Years by Marilyn J. Plotkins, Praeger Publishers, 2005.
  20. Références on Amazon.
  21. Références Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine on the composer's website.
  22. Références on Amazon.
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