A world premiere by a renowned composer, that was a while ago at Dutch National Opera. The dedication to the German Manfred Trojahn (72) dates from four years ago, but his first plans for a composition about the Orpheus myth date back many decades. The expectation aroused by this of a deeply thought-out opera is completely fulfilled. Despite the partly French sources of inspiration (text sources, orchestral colours), Eurydice – die Liebenden, blind as German as the overly complex title. Dark, mythical, hermetic, pregnant with Sehnsucht.
Trojahn does not serve a grandiose Orpheus opera, but a dim Freudian chamber play about love from the perspective of Eurydice. In the bar-bistro of an international train – the ultimate symbol for the in-between world between a and b – the love between Eurydice and Orphée germinates, but not without noise on the line: her past. Three ex-lovers visit her as guises of Pluto, god of the Underworld. Very strong is the discovery of a rotating decor. After all, in a moving train you are always on the way, but never at your destination.
Trojahn’s score is contemporary but remains accessible through the lyrical vocal lines, sensual orchestration, logical prosody and close relationship between word and sound. A term like ‘awake’ sounds like chirping woodwinds, with references on the ‘other side’ ominously bumpy turmoil. It’s not literal anywhere, but it keeps you focused. In addition, Trojahn’s arsenal of mixed colors is pleasing to the ear. No herb from the cupboard goes unused and the psychological layering of the ‘plot’ benefits from that.
Also read the interview with Manfred Trojahn: ‘This Eurydice is a complex and vulnerable woman’
Intense scenes
The fact that the opera remains at a distance is due to the text and dramaturgy. When Eurydice sings that she wants to be the Queen (climax of act 1), you take it for granted. Her unsympathetic exes do not make it tangible what she has been through, only that there is an unsatisfactory history. In any case, idyll and fulfillment are hard to find: the huge, black dead queen bee that dominates the stage in the final act raises questions that are not answered.
For directing this Eurydice signs former DNO director Pierre Audi, assisted by trusted forces such as Jean Kalman (light) and Christof Hetzer (sets). The team deals in intense scenes and beautiful images: from the train to the eerie steamboat that sails over the dark Styx. Featured in chiaroscuro, Orphée and Eurydice find each other there “an eternal second”, but that’s about it. The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under the clear and inspired leadership of Erik Nielsen plays a final chord that is as ambiguous as the entire opera: you can hear hope in it, but you immediately doubt your own ears.
In addition to excellent supporting roles by Thomas Oliemans (Pluto) and Katia Ledoux (Proserpine), the intensity of the Eurydice – Die Liebenden, blind cannot be separated from the ideal lead singers: Andrè Schuen (Orphée) and Julia Kleiter (Eurydice). Kleiter sings her very demanding title role admirably cleanly and clearly. She has a bell-like top register, but also makes the frayed edges of her character tangible in her beautiful and penetrating final monologue.