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
Roles, voice types, premiere casts
Role Voice type Premiere cast,[19] 14 May 1993
Music direction: Martin Goldray
The Princess soprano Wendy Hill
Eurydice soprano Elizabeth Futral
Heurtebise tenor Richard Fracker
Cégeste tenor Paul Kirby
Orphée baritone Eugène Perry
The Judge bass John Kuether
The Poet bass James Ramlet
The Commissioner bass John Kuether
Aglaonice mezzo-soprano Janice Felty
The Reporter tenor Brian Mirabile
Glazier tenor Brian Mirabile
Ensemble Linda Joy Adams
Charles Butler
Robert K. Dunn
Michael Glumicich
Rachael Lillis
Ken MacDonald
Stephen Spewock
Hester A. Tinti

Structure
  • Act 1
    • 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 2
    • 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
  • Orphée 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 Orphée" by Bernard Holland, The New York Times, 29 October 1993.
  2. "Review/Opera: Glass's Orphée, Built on Cocteau's" by Edward Rothstein, The New York Times, 21 May 1993.
  3. "Orphée", Royal Opera House.
  4. "Orphée, Linbury Studio, Royal Opera, London" by Annette Morreau, The Independent, 30 May 2005.
  5. "Orphée" by Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 2 June 2005.
  6. "Vertrauensbasis in Linz geschaffen" by Ernst Scherzer, Wiener Zeitung, 18 January 2007. (in German)
  7. "Orphée, Glimmerglass Opera, 07/21/07" Archived 14 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine by Joseph Dalton, Times Union, Albany, 22 July 2007.
  8. "Four Trips to Hell and Back at the Opera, page 2" by Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 7 August 2007.
  9. "Orphée" Archived 24 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Oregon Public Broadcasting.
  10. "Nipping Down to Hell With Philip Glass" by Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, 29 July 2010.
  11. "Biographie", annemanson.com
  12. "Orphée by Philip Glass review: triumphant" by Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 March 2011.
  13. "Orphée: Spellbinding!!" by Ray Renati, San Francisco Bay Times, 3 March 2011.
  14. "Cocteau, Glass tell surrealistic Orpheus tale" Archived 27 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine by Janos Gereben, in San Francisco Examiner, 23 February 2011.
  15. "Matthew Worth sings Philip Glass Orphée" by Emily Cary, Washington Examiner, 6 February 2012.
  16. "Virginia Opera's robust staging of Philip Glass Orphée" by Terry Ponick in The Washington Times, 12 February 2012.
  17. "Virginia Opera presents Philip Glass’s Orphée at George Mason University" by Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, 13 February 2012.
  18. Orphée ENO programme
  19. Marilyn J. Plotkins (2005). The American Repertory Theatre Reference Book: The Brustein Years. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. p. 108. ISBN 9780313289132.
  20. Orphee – The Making of an Opera, Amazon.
  21. "Philip Glass – Orphée" Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine on the composer's website.
  22. Orphée Suite for Piano, Amazon.
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