Passionless Post-Modernism

In these plague years, when so many of us have seen young people die before their time, no opera perhaps speaks so directly to our condition and our needs as Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” How many people, like Gluck’s hero, have yearned to harrow hell to bring back their loved ones from the dead but unlike him have lacked the intervention of the gods to achieve their goal?

In its simple, direct and honest way, Gluck’s music expresses this anguish of loss within the boundaries of measured, classical art. Make no mistake, however. A great performance will cause emotions to overflow.

So it was deeply disappointing to encounter the cool, formal, decorative and undramatic version directed by modern dance choreographer Mark Morris with his company in collaboration with the Handel and Haydn Society led by Christopher Hogwood on Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The production, presented by Opera Pacific and the Philharmonic Society, will be repeated this weekend in Los Angeles, courtesy of UCLA.

Morris gives us essentially a staged oratorio animated by dance. Amid Adrianne Lobel’s set of movable vast white silken curtains, lit starkly by Michael Chybowski, Morris places the chorus, dressed in black gowns and tuxedos, on stairs at the sides of the stage. They serve as statues.

His dancers, dressed in Martin Pakledinaz’s brown Greco-Roman tunics, dominate the center. With movement ranging from the abstract to the pictorial and gestural, they sign, interpret, amplify and reflect on many of the arias and choruses, in addition to executing the music Gluck originally designated for dancing.

Unfortunately, the dances, inspired by Attic and classical art, often look simplistic, without pressure and uncompelling.

Of course, there are vocal soloists. At times they are even central. But there is not much dramatic urgency left for them.

Their gestures tend to be histrionically archaic, static and broad; whereas the choreography for the dancers is fluid and almost ever-present. The center of gravity shifts dangerously away from the story line to what seems more like pure decoration.

All this might be judged an interesting post-modern mix of styles if it weren’t so distancing in terms of emotional impact.

This distancing is particularly unfortunate because Morris and Hogwood apparently want to emphasize authenticity.

“Orfeo” is usually regarded as the first broadside fired by Gluck and his librettist, Ranieri da Calzabigi, in their efforts to reform the over-elaborate opera of their time and make it more emotionally direct. For this reason, Morris and Hogwood chose the 1762 Vienna edition instead of the more elaborate 1774 revision Gluck made for Paris.

To approximate the original alto castrato casting, Orfeo is sung here by a countertenor, Michael Chance. Hogwood also leads a period-sized orchestra according to what are generally considered historically informed performance practices. Phrasing was short; tempos were quick; affect, typically, was minimized.

Orfeo’s great lament at losing Euridice a second time, “Che faro senza Euridice” (What shall I do without Euridice?), was too contained to break hearts, as it can.

In the marathon challenges of Orfeo, Chance sang with purity and focus, with surprising power and size but with limited expressivity. He encountered problems in support and tone at the lower end of the range.

Dana Hanchard sang Euridice with a hollow, dark-toned soprano but employed it intelligently.

Christine Brandes brought a bright but small voice to the role of Amor, envisioned by Morris as a bad-boy god. And as Morris probably intended, the audience laughed when Amor cleaned her nails with Orfeo’s suicide-dagger and otherwise regarded him with exasperation. This may have been the first time jokes were introduced into this austere work. It was not a great idea.

The chorus sang blandly.

In one regard, this was opera the old-fashioned way. There were no supertitles. By mutual decision of the collaborating groups, use of supertitles was rejected. Instead, a libretto was inserted in each program booklet distributed to the audience. But once the house lights were turned down, the libretto was useless.

The same situation will apply in Los Angeles and throughout the tour. Be prepared. Bone up on the plot and your Italian.

* Mark Morris’ staging of Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” will be repeated with the same forces today and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Wiltern Theatre, 3780 Wilshire Blvd. $13-$45. (310) 825-2101.