By John Farrell
Music Critic
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Orpheus & Euridice
What: Opera by Ricky Ian Gordon, presented by Long Beach Opera, conceived and directed by Andreas Mitisek
Where: Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool, 4000 Ocean Blvd., Long Beach
When: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $45-$95
Phone: (562) 432-5934
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Rehearsals of Long Beach Opera’s upcoming production of Ricky Ian Gordon’s opera Orpheus and Eurydice are unlike almost any opera rehearsals you can imagine. No sets, no curtain, no stages are involved. Costumes, yes, though they are not usually in evidence (they get wet.)
Instead of costumes, most of the performers prefer wet suits. The electric piano, played by Michelle Schumann on one side, looks dangerously close to a large puddle of water on the concrete floor. And the lifeguard sitting in his tower had, one evening, earplugs in place, whether for health or artistic reasons he wouldn’t say.
All this, and a lot more, is because Gordon’s opera is being staged in the Belmont Shore Olympic Pool. That’s right, in the pool. Soprano Elizabeth Futral, who sings the role of Euridice (and created it in the work’s original productions in New York), does some of her singing standing up in a small Sabot in the middle of the pool, which stands in for the River Styx. Clarinet virtuoso Todd Palmer, who commissioned the work, is carried into the pool on another actor’s shoulders while playing.
All this is part of Long Beach Opera’s Artistic and Musical Director Andreas Mitisek’s concept for the work, which he is directing. This weekend LBO is presenting three performances of Gordon’s work at the pool on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings, all at 8 p.m.
The Belmont Plaza Pool is hardly an opera house, as anyone who has ever swum there (or sung there) knows. It is huge, holding two Olympic sized pools, and is designed for swim meets, including competitions in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The walls are hung with international flags and decorated with giant swimming murals. The acoustics are those of an airplane hangar, with an echo of more than three seconds. But, with stage lights and the pool lit from below, there is a magic quality to the space.
“The mythological importance of water, especially in the Orpheus story, is why I chose to do this work in a pool, “ Mitisek said in a recent cell phone conversation. There are lots of operas where you could use a pool to tell the story. I chose to do this one because of the kind of work it is: a very intimate piece and it is wonderful to see it float in the water. It becomes not a pool but a lake. That’s what [composer] Gordon said when he saw part of a rehearsal recently. I think the transformation of he audience through the space is much more than you could ever get in a regular theater.”
Composer Gordon was poolside during a rehearsal last week, and spoke later about how he sees his work, which was first performed as an unstaged work for clarinet and soprano. “I felt the piece works as a concert piece but I really wanted to see it as a theater piece,” Gordon said in a cell-phone conversation. “Todd [Palmer, who commissioned the work] may not have expected an hour-long piece for clarinet, voice and piano, but he loves the work.” So do the critics. When the work was presented at Lincoln Center in a version created and staged by choreographer/director Doug Varone in 2006, it won an Obie. Palmer and Futral starred in that production..
Gordon wrote the poetic text for Orpheus and Euridice in what he describes as “a fever,” after the idea came to him in a moment when he woke up at 4 one morning. The story follows the classical myth of Orpheus, whose music could charm man and beast, and his love, Euridice. Euridice dies of a wasting illness, and Orpheus follows her to Hades to rescue her, using his music to make the passage. Gordon wrote the work while he was caring for his partner who was dying of a wasting illness, and clearly that experience informs both the text and the music.
The three performances this weekend begin Long Beach Opera’s season, which will continue with performances which will include a recital by Frederica Von Stade, a revival of Grigori Frid’s “The Diary of Anne Frank” and a program called “Frankenstein meets Strauss” featuring actor Michael York.
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John Farrell is a free-lance music critic who lives in Long Beach.
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