Erin Morley
The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Eurydice, based on Sarah Ruhl’s 2003 play that reimagined the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, has received mixed reviews from New York critics. A co-production with L.A. Opera, the show will have a limited engagement of seven performances through December 16 at the Met’s Lincoln Center venue. The creative team includes Matthew Aucoin (music), Sarah Ruhl (libretto), Mary Zimmerman (direction), Denis Jones (choreography), Yannick Nézet-Séguin (music direction), Daniel Ostling (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), T.J. Gerckens (lights), and S. Katy Tucker (projections). The cast includes soprano Erin Morley (Eurydice), baritone Joshua Hopkins (Orpheus), countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński (Orpheus’ Double), bass-baritone Nathan Berg (Eurydice’s Father), and tenor Barry Banks (Hades), featuring Ronnita Miller (Big Stone), Chad Shelton (Loud Stone), and Stacey Tappan (Little Stone). Below is Morley singing an excerpt from Eurydice’s second-act aria, “This is what it is to love an artist.”
Broadway World (Richard Sasanow): Much of [Aucoin’s] charming, engaging, funny, and wonderfully musical score was gratifying to hear, switching gears quite often. But the composer was lucky to have his score in the hands of a cast who knew what to do with it. … At the same time, I found myself often distracted by some of the stage business, some built into the play, some from director Mary Zimmerman. … I wonder if Matthew Aucoin will end up in the Underworld like Orpheus, fallen for his own version of Eurydice. … [Ruhl’s] misbegotten faith in her writing let him make the opera less than it could have been. Still, I found myself drawn into it — and ready to hear it once again.
New York Times (Zachary Woolfe): The sheer scale of Aucoin’s music is luxurious, but it never luxuriates for long, always rushing on to the next, different thing — as if, for all its splendor, it was afraid of losing our attention. … Given Ruhl’s winsome treatment, the resulting sensation is of Aucoin’s music swamping the story, rather than guiding and being guided by it. You take in the plot, but feel too overwhelmed to feel. … It is easy to like this Eurydice, her presence sweet yet unsentimental, but it is hard to care about her as much as we must. … Eurydice is most moving as a symbol of a shift in the Met’s artistic priorities.
Opera Wire (David Salazar): Sarah Ruhl and Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice aims to break down this Orphean monopoly on the story and explore it from the opposing viewpoint of his dead wife. … As a work of absurdist theater, Ruhl’s libretto doesn’t back away from being confrontational with its audience on many fronts. The most immediate confrontation is the choice of language and its simplicity. … This initial absence of verbal personality also expresses Eurydice’s own feeling of emptiness. … The first half plays up its comic absurdity to the extreme in most cases, while the second half, which still retains much of that quality, coalesces into a potent Greek tragedy.
Vulture (Justin Davidson): Maybe the Met can make a habit of this. For the second time in two months, a new opera has popped onto the august stage in a cloud of high-precision excitement. … Expertly wrought, finely produced, and performed with genuine show-biz verve, Eurydice should provide management with an epiphany: This is what we’re supposed to be doing — and it’s fun. Music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin always does his job with enough glee to make even a funeral festive, but he surely wasn’t the only performer enjoying himself on opening night. For a good time, knock at the gates of hell.