司馬勤

The Orpheus Mystique：

Changing opera from the （under）ground up

今年夏天，我看罷圣達(dá)菲歌劇院搬演的《費(fèi)加羅的婚禮》，贊嘆方穎飾演的管家女仆兼新娘迷人細(xì)膩的同時(shí)，認(rèn)為這次的制作應(yīng)該改名為《蘇珊娜的婚禮》。大約10年前，不止一位評(píng)論家觀賞了黛安.保盧斯（Diane Paulus）在百老匯執(zhí)導(dǎo)的《波吉與貝絲》（Porgy and Bess）后，激贊奧德拉·麥克唐納（Audra McDonald）精湛的演繹，提議干脆把劇名改為《貝絲》（Bess）更為合適。

可是，眼見“#我也是”（#MeToo）時(shí)代的到來以及近年女性視角越見強(qiáng)大的趨勢，馬修·奧庫安（Matthew Aucoin）與莎拉·魯爾（Sarah Ruhl）兩人更向前邁進(jìn)了一步。他們從女性角度敘述改寫了奧菲歐傳奇——這則在過去400年來富有開創(chuàng)性的故事，把這一古老的希臘神話帶進(jìn)了21世紀(jì)。

說實(shí)在的，他們擁有一定的優(yōu)勢。歌劇《優(yōu)麗狄茜》（Eurydice）于2020年在洛杉磯歌劇院首演，今年11月終于亮相大都會(huì)歌劇院，但劇本源于2003年魯爾創(chuàng)作的同名話劇。編劇沒有追蹤奧菲歐在人世間遇上的種種情節(jié)，她把大部分精力聚焦在優(yōu)麗狄茜進(jìn)入地府后的遭遇，在神話故事的主干上鋪墊女主角一生的故事。到了地府之后，優(yōu)麗狄茜與死去的父親重逢，而這位父親剛好借鑒了魯爾自己父親的模樣。除了大家常見的、與奧菲歐相關(guān)的愛情與音樂藝術(shù)兩個(gè)主題外，劇本引領(lǐng)我們深思記憶的意義：父親遇見女兒感到興奮，可惜無法記起生前的很多細(xì)節(jié);女兒也記不起從前的家庭生活。最后，當(dāng)奧菲歐前來營救她時(shí)，我們碰上那個(gè)慣常的忠告：不要回頭看，要不她就會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)消失。但是，這一次不是奧菲歐無法抗拒優(yōu)麗狄茜的叫喚，是她突然驚叫，讓奧菲歐感到愕然，禁不住回頭看。優(yōu)麗狄茜舍不得自己的父親，還是因?yàn)樗@恐自己已經(jīng)忘卻了人世間的一切？我們很難確定。

奧庫安剛出版了一本新書，名為《不可能的藝術(shù)：歌劇歷險(xiǎn)記》（The Impossible Art：Adventures in Opera）。書中提到奧庫安被魯爾的改編版本所吸引，因?yàn)樽髑易约涸?014年創(chuàng)作過同樣主題的作品（室內(nèi)樂康塔塔），英雄人物“稍為施虐”，身處一個(gè)“幽暗，帶有麝香的奧菲歐世界”。兩人的合作大致上根據(jù)魯爾的概念，制造出魔幻的效果。歌劇里慣常用的戲劇形式被中世紀(jì)風(fēng)格的祭禮氣氛取代——這方面跟卡佳·薩里亞赫（KaijaSaariaho）的《遠(yuǎn)方的愛》（L'amour de loin）與喬治·本杰明（George Benjamin）的《寫在皮膚上》（Written on Skin）相似——但奧庫安炫目的配器法機(jī)敏地借用音樂歷史各時(shí)代的材料，從巴洛克早期蒙特威爾第到后簡約主義的菲利普·格拉斯（Philip Glass ）。事實(shí)證明，歌劇《優(yōu)麗狄茜》不僅是古典故事的重新編排，而且是向原始故事以及歷代不同藝術(shù)形式的敘事版本致敬。

***

原始故事很簡單：男孩遇見女孩;結(jié)婚當(dāng)天，男孩失去他的摯愛，因?yàn)樗欢旧咭?男孩赴湯蹈火前往地府去找尋她，帶她回到人世的條件是沿途不可以回望，但他最后卻沒做到。因?yàn)槟泻⑹且粋€(gè)有天賦的音樂家，這個(gè)故事傳遍全球，在巴西話劇兼電影《黑色奧菲歐》（Black Orpheus）里他是森巴樂手;在薩爾曼·拉什迪（Salmon Rushdie）的小說《她腳下的土地》（The Ground Beneath Her Feet）中，他是個(gè)印度搖滾歌星;今天更在阿奈絲·米切爾（Anais Mitchell）的百老匯熱門音樂劇《哈迪斯城》（Hadestown）中得以重生。

可是，在歌劇這個(gè)范疇里，奧菲歐不僅開創(chuàng)了一種新的音樂形式，后來也促使不同風(fēng)格與劇種的變遷?？杀氖?，并非所有的奧菲歐故事都生而平等。當(dāng)然我們有蒙特威爾第的著名歌劇，后來安東尼奧·薩爾托里奧（Antonio Sartorio）的《奧菲歐》（1672）嘗試銜接法蘭西斯科·卡瓦利（Francesco Cavalli）的巴洛克盛期音樂語言以及早期正歌?。╫pera seria）風(fēng)格，可惜作品一敗涂地（主要原因是情節(jié)過于復(fù)雜，其中添加了幾個(gè)嫉妒情人，使得一切變得混亂）。根據(jù)歷史數(shù)據(jù)，到現(xiàn)在為止，一共有70多套以奧菲歐為主題的歌劇，但大部分都已失傳。某些只剩下劇本，音樂分譜則不知所蹤。

要是我宣布今年（2021年）為奧菲歐演出季（Season of Orpheus），未免言過其實(shí)。但是，除了奧庫安與魯爾的作品在大都會(huì)歌劇院登臺(tái)，幾部不太聞名的劇目也難得一現(xiàn)。在巴塞羅那利索大歌劇院，勒內(nèi)·雅各布斯（Rene Jacobs）帶領(lǐng)巴洛樂團(tuán)（BRock Orchestra）演出了泰勒曼（Telemann）的《奧菲歐》。這部首演于1 726年的三幕歌?。▌”景抡Z、法語與意大利語），25年前才被發(fā)現(xiàn)。在紐約茱莉亞音樂學(xué)院，歌劇系以及早期音樂系聯(lián)合制作了路易吉·羅西（Luigi Rossi）1647年撰寫的《奧菲歐》。那是在法國搬演最早的歌劇之一，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為歷史文物，盡管當(dāng)年在巴黎紅極一時(shí)。

羅西的歌劇沒有進(jìn)入常規(guī)劇目，有不少原因。首先，這部劇中獨(dú)唱演員陣容龐大，有26個(gè)不同角色，只有音樂學(xué)院或擁有大批全職演員的國有劇院才可以搬演這一現(xiàn)代制作（1982年，斯卡拉歌劇院;1988年，印第安納大學(xué)歌劇劇院）。但是，《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》樂評(píng)人安東尼·托馬西尼（Anthony Tommasini）很喜歡這一茱莉亞學(xué)院搬演的、大量刪減過的制作——是的，作品還有另一個(gè)問題：全版歌劇長達(dá)6個(gè)小時(shí)。他認(rèn)為羅西朗朗上口的旋律以及生動(dòng)的舞曲值得贊許。他問道“為什么這部美妙的歌劇沒有更多機(jī)會(huì)演出？”

***

談起奧菲歐演出季，在過去的時(shí)日里，曾經(jīng)有幾家歌劇院精心設(shè)計(jì)了一連串的“奧菲歐”劇目。早在2007年，格里莫格拉斯歌劇節(jié)就專注于這個(gè)主題，呈獻(xiàn)了不同風(fēng)格的奧菲歐歌劇，它們出自蒙特威爾第、海頓、格魯克、奧芬巴赫與菲利普·格拉斯的手筆。英國國家歌劇院于2019-20演出季重演哈里森·伯特威斯?fàn)枺℉arrison Birtwistle）于1986年首演的歌劇《奧菲歐的面具》（Mask of Orpheus），同時(shí)也安排了人們更為熟悉的格魯克、奧芬巴赫與格拉斯的奧菲歐劇目。

現(xiàn)在明白了吧：故事留有足夠空間容納不同年代的音樂風(fēng)格以及文化感知性，各個(gè)藝術(shù)家愿意保留的素材往往都會(huì)重疊。奧庫安與魯爾絕不是修正主義的發(fā)起人——他們更不是第一個(gè)用新娘子的名字作為歌劇劇名的，正如我剛才所說，他們倆是這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)的繼承者，而傳統(tǒng)的特征是：作品在首演當(dāng)年十分轟動(dòng)，后來卻逐漸褪色。以下是音樂史上幾部與奧菲歐有關(guān)的歌劇。你應(yīng)該認(rèn)識(shí)其中幾部，其他的你只要知曉它們的存在就可以了。

1.《優(yōu)麗狄茜》

雅各布·佩里（Jacopo Peri）（1600）

朱利奧·卡契尼（Giulio Caccini）（1602）

這不是佩里的首部歌劇作品。1598年，他創(chuàng)作了《達(dá)芙妮》（Oafne），首次把宣敘式對白配上音樂，但這甚至不是他的原意。相反，佩里盼望著模仿古希臘演出神話故事的模式。兩年后，佩里譜寫奧菲歐歌劇，男主角（即古希臘最著名的音樂家）由自己擔(dān)綱，其他角色由卡契尼家族的音樂家們扮演。幕后的戲劇要比臺(tái)前的更迂回曲折?？ㄆ跄嵩鎏砹私o他家人演唱的音樂段落，但佩里打算出版整套歌劇——包括卡契尼譜寫的部分——樂譜標(biāo)志的作曲家只有他一人?？ㄆ跄崃⒖谭垂?，利用奧塔維奧·里努奇尼（OttavioRinuccini）編寫的唱詞（即佩里已用過的劇本）再次創(chuàng)作新音樂?？ㄆ跄岬母鑴∈籽荼扰謇锇姹就砹藘赡?，但卡契尼出版的歌劇總譜卻比佩里早了兩周。

2.《奧菲歐》

克勞迪奧·蒙特威爾第

（Claudio Monteverdi）（1607）

如果說蒙特威爾第身為歌劇這門藝術(shù)的創(chuàng)始人未免有點(diǎn)過分——跟他合作過的編劇亞歷山德羅·斯特里吉奧（Alessandro Striggio）是佩里歌劇演出的觀眾之一——可是，蒙特威爾第確實(shí)是歌劇藝術(shù)權(quán)勢圈的主宰。他譜寫的音樂談不上原創(chuàng)，但沒有人能像他那樣成功地平衡歌曲（“詠嘆調(diào)”）與宣敘式唱白（“宣敘調(diào)”）、合唱與器樂段落，他營造出來的效果優(yōu)雅，風(fēng)格清晰。盡管熟悉音樂史的聽眾很快就看穿《奧菲歐》只是“同類中的佼佼者”，但這部作品的名聲遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超越了其本來的聽眾群。關(guān)于這部歌劇的首演與重演的歷史細(xì)節(jié)亦很難考究。多年后，當(dāng)歌劇演出在意大利北部脫離了宮廷生活而變?yōu)榇蟊妸蕵?，蒙特威爾第轉(zhuǎn)而開始大力推薦自己的第二部歌劇。雖然《奧菲歐》一開始備受關(guān)注，但在作曲家去世后卻差不多被人擱置遺忘，直至19世紀(jì)末，當(dāng)音樂界開始回顧巴洛克時(shí)期時(shí)，蒙特威爾第的天賦才得以重新審視。

3.《奧菲歐與優(yōu)麗狄茜》

克里斯托夫·維利巴爾德·格魯克

（Christoph Willibald Gluck）（1762）

我在前文中曾提及安東尼奧·薩爾托里奧的《奧菲歐》刻意迎合“正歌劇”，這個(gè)劇種不太講究故事情節(jié)，卻看重華麗的演唱技巧。格魯克后來提倡的革新運(yùn)動(dòng)，讓歌劇重回本源：簡化音樂，減輕詠嘆調(diào)與宣敘調(diào)的對比，并強(qiáng)調(diào)音樂的目的是為了增強(qiáng)故事性。從前塞滿亨德爾、斯卡拉蒂與維瓦爾第（還有很多天賦比不上他們的作曲家）歌劇的次要情節(jié)都被刪掉了，為下一代的作曲家開拓新領(lǐng)域，讓歌劇成為統(tǒng)一的藝術(shù)。雖然《奧菲歐與優(yōu)麗狄茜》在維也納首演，但這部作品原先用的是意大利劇本，風(fēng)格更接近法國歌劇。要不是格魯克這位高手，他提出的改革很有可能會(huì)失敗——就像萬箭齊發(fā)，但無一命中。格魯克把一切結(jié)合起來，形成一部完整的、包含不同來源的歌劇。這部作品至今仍大受歡迎。

4.《地獄中的奧菲歐》

賈克·奧芬巴赫

（Jacques Offenbach）（1858/1874）

格魯克不僅為歌劇藝術(shù)開了先河，也為奧菲歐的故事提供了革新的方向。很快，夏龐蒂埃、呂利、泰勒曼，甚至海頓都選中這個(gè)題材。那么，年輕有為的作曲家是怎樣抓住人們注意力的？把故事改為喜劇，讓觀眾們哈哈大笑。奧芬巴赫的首部舞臺(tái)大作——無論是稱之為喜歌劇還是輕歌劇，到現(xiàn)在還是議論紛紛——除了拿奧菲斯熱潮開玩笑，還奚落了拿破侖式的統(tǒng)治與政權(quán)。輿論對于輕佻傲慢的歌劇情節(jié)褒貶不一（無論是1858年的首演版，還是1874年的改編加長版），但劇中的音樂卻廣受大眾歡迎。最大的反諷（應(yīng)該歸功于科雷米奧與哈勒維兩位編?。┦莾?yōu)麗狄茜不能忍受奧菲歐的歌聲——奧庫安與魯爾也有涉及這一點(diǎn)：優(yōu)麗狄茜經(jīng)常擔(dān)心奧菲歐愛音樂要比愛她更深切。

5.《奧菲歐的面具》

哈里森·伯特威斯?fàn)?/p>

（Harrison Birtwistle）（1986）

當(dāng)年的倫敦首演成功之極，《奧菲歐的面具》被譽(yù)為杰作。30多年后，英國國家歌劇院舉辦“奧菲歐演出季”，這部杰作得以再現(xiàn)舞臺(tái)。如果你不太熟悉奧菲歐神話，這部時(shí)長3小時(shí)的解構(gòu)式歌劇絕不適合作為“入門”小品。在作品中，這個(gè)希臘神話的情節(jié)沒有按時(shí)間順序鋪排出來，伯特威斯?fàn)柵c彼得·斯諾菲爾夫（Peter Zinovieff）刻意讓情節(jié)多方向發(fā)展，突顯不同版本的格格不入。《奧菲歐的面具》有史詩般的舞臺(tái)效果，宏偉至極的聲效，首演時(shí)用的布景與服裝設(shè)計(jì)更有超越時(shí)空的想象——第三幕的劇情剛好反過來，一切就像時(shí)光倒流——但伯特威斯?fàn)枏?qiáng)大復(fù)雜的音樂風(fēng)格，加上巴利·安德森（Barry Anderson）的電子聲景改造或操作了不同的自然樂器（包括豎琴），聽出來的效果卻局限于20世紀(jì)80年代中期。

6.《奧菲歐》

菲利普·格拉斯（Philip Glass）（1993）

這是格拉斯譜寫讓·科克托（Jean Cocteau）三部曲中的第一部，具有獨(dú)特個(gè)性，與伯特威斯?fàn)柡棋摹睹婢摺废嘤吵扇ぁ？瓶送杏?950年執(zhí)導(dǎo)的電影就像個(gè)反映藝術(shù)家生涯的寓言式延伸：成功之后會(huì)導(dǎo)致同齡人的嘲笑和孤立，最終與世隔絕后才找到自由。由于它結(jié)合了電影和現(xiàn)場表演的模式，且因?yàn)殡娪暗墓?jié)奏所限，感覺上沒有格拉斯的其他舞臺(tái)作品那般寬敞?？墒牵窭沟囊魳芬h(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超越電影配樂，電影里“二維”的人物與感情狀態(tài)因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)場音樂和舞臺(tái)而變得更立體。盡管風(fēng)格貼近法國[格拉斯師從娜迪亞·布朗格（Nadia Boulanger），配器法效仿柏遼茲的經(jīng)典文本，好像把整本書吞下了一樣]，但這部電影與德語中的“綜合藝術(shù)”（Gesamtkunstwerk）更為接近。如果“綜合藝術(shù)”的真正定義是融合了某個(gè)年代的各種藝術(shù)模式，那么倘若瓦格納活在有電影的世界的話，他筆下的音樂又會(huì)怎樣？

Last summer，I left a performance of The Marriage of Figaro in Santa Fe saying that Ying Fang had played the opera's housekeeping bride with such charm and subtlety that the production should've been called The Wedding of Susanna. Some 10 years ago，more than one critic saw Audra McDonald in Dianne Paulus's production of Porgy and Bess on Broadway and said it should've been called simply Bess.

But in the era of #MeToo and the recent empowerment of female perspectives，Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl have actually taken this one step further. In rewriting the Orpheus legend—a seminal scenario for more than 400 years—from the female standpoint，Aucoin and Ruhl have hauled the ancient Greek myth into the 21st century.

Granted，they had a head start. Eurydice，which premiered in 2020 at LA Opera and made its belated opening at the Metropolitan Opera in November，wasactually derived from Ruhl's 2003 play of the same name. Rather than following Orpheus from the surface world，Ruhl spends most of her time in the underworld with Eurydice，draping the skeleton of the original story with details from her own life. Once in the underworld，her heroine reunites with her dead father，a character very much modeled on the playwright，s own. Along with the usual Orphic themes of love and art，we have a meditation on memory：the father happily meets his daughter，but barely remembers her;nor does the daughter recall the details of their family life. When Orpheus eventually turns up to retrieve her，he receives the familiar dictum：Don，t look back，or she，ll be gone forever. But this time it，s not Orpheus giving into temptation but rather Eurydice's calling out that causes him to look back. Did she want to remain with her father，or was she frightened by already forgetting what the surface world was like？We're not really sure.

In his new book The Impossible Art：Adventures in Opera，Aucoin recalls being taken by Ruhl，s retelling largely because he，d developed his own version of the story in his 2014 piece The Orphic Moment，setting his “slightly sadistic”hero in a “grimly musky Orphic world.”His collaboration with Ruhl，though，stuck more clearly to her conception，and the results were quite magical. Many of opera's standard dramatic conventions were replaced with quasi-medieval ritualistic effects—much like KaijaSaariaho'sL'Amour de loin and George Benjamin's Written on Skin —while Aucoin's brilliant orchestrations wittily pilfered musical history from early Baroque Monteverdi to post-minimalist Philip Glass. Eurydice turned out to be more than just another retelling;it was tribute both to the story and to the way it，s been retold through the ages.

***

The original story itself is simple：Boy meets girl;boy loses girl when she dies on their wedding day;boy travels to the underworld to retrieve her and is told he can lead her back to the living as long as he doesn't look back. For some reason，he looks back. But in part because the boy also happens to be a gifted musician，his story has made its way around the world，with Orpheus turning up in Brazil as a samba singer in the play and film Black Orpheus，as an Indian rock musician in Salmon Rushdie's novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet，and even on Broadway in Anais Mitchell's hit musical Hadestown.

But it's in opera where Orpheus not only heralded the creation of a new art form but also announced many subsequent shifts in style and form. Sadly，though，not all Orpheus stories are created equal. For every Monteverdi there，s an Antonio Sartorio，whose Orfeo （1672）tried to bridge the high Baroque language of Francesco Cavalli with early opera seria and prettymuch failed at both （largely because its plot，with other jealous lovers getting in the way，was way too complicated for its own good）. More than a hundred versions of the story have been documented，and most have disappeared. Some exist only in libretto form，the music apparently lost forever.

It might stretch the point to call this year the Season of Orpheus，but in addition to Aucoin and Ruhl，s appearance at the Met，a couple of rather obscure settings have gotten a rare hearing. At Barcelona，s Gran Teatre del Liceu，Rene Jacobs led the B'Rock Orchestra in a performance of Telemann，s Orpheus，a three-act opera in German，F(xiàn)rench and Italian from 1726 whose score turned up again only 25 years ago. At New York's Juilliard School，the opera and early- music departments collaborated in a production of Luigi Rossi's Orfeo （1647），one of the first operas to be performed in France but now an historical relic，despite making a big splash in Paris at the time.

One can see why Rossi's opera fell out of therepertory. For one thing，it has 26 roles，which pretty much limits modern productions to conservatories or state-funded companies with a full-time roster of singers （modern productions have taken place at La Scala in 1982 and Indiana University，s Opera Theatre in 1988）. But New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini left the much-cut Juilliard production—oh，another problem：the original opera was six hours long—quite charmed by Rossi's catchy melodies and lively dance music，asking “Why is this wonderful opera not presented more often？”

***

Speaking of the Season of Orpheus，a handful of operacompanies over the years have presented just that. Back in 2007，the Glimmerglass Festival balanced thematic unity with stylistic breath by presenting versions of the Orpheus tale by Monteverdi，Haydn，Gluck，Offenbach，and Philip Glass. In its 2019-20 season，the English National Opera programmed a revival of Harrison Birtwistle，s Mask of Orpheus （1986）along with additional productions of Gluck，Offenbach and Glass.

You get the point：there's always room to retool the story through current musical styles and cultural sensibilities，as well as a great deal of overlap in what people have thought worth saving. Aucoin and Ruhl didnt invent revisionism—they werent even the firstto name their opera after Orpheus's bride—but as I mentioned earlier，they do fall into a tradition，part of which may be initially making a big impression but soon fading away. In the meantime，here are a few Orpheus versions through the ages，some of which you should know，others you should just know about：

1. Euridice

Jacopo Peri （1600）

Giulio Caccini （1602）

This wasn't Peri's first opera. His Dafne from 1598 was the first to set declarative speech to music，but creating a new art form wasn't even his actual goal. Rather，Peri was looking to imitate the performance styles of ancient Greece. Two years later，he set the Orpheus story，reserving the role of Greece's most famous musician for himself. Much of the rest of the cast was from the Caccini family，however，and this is where the offstage drama began to upstage the show itself. Although Giulio Caccini also submitted music for the family members to sing，Peri was planning to publish his work—including Caccini，s music—under his own name. Caccini rushed into overdrive，set the entire libretto （by OttavioRinuccini）that Peri had used，staged his own version two years after Peri，s and managed to see it in print six weeks before Peri's version came off the press.

2. La favolad'Orfeo

Claudio Monteverdi （1607）

Although Monteverdi，s reputation as the creator of opera is a tad exaggerated—his own librettist Alessandro Striggio had even attended Peri's version—he does stand out as the artform，s reigning patriarch. Nothing in his score is entirely original，but no one had managed the balance between song （“aria”），declarative singing （“recitative”），choral and instrumental writing with such grace and clarity. Although knowledgeable listeners quickly recognized Orfeo as “best of breed，”its reputation far exceeded its listenership，and actual details about the opera，s initial and subsequent performances remain rather scant. Years later，when opera performances in northern Italy started to become public events rather than private court affairs，Monteverdi was promoting his second opera instead. For all its initial attention，the opera fell by the wayside after Monteverdi，s death and didn't generate much attention till the late 19th century，when the music world started looking and listening backward to the Baroque era and the composer's genius became apparent.

3. Orfeo ed Euridice

Christoph Willibald Gluck （1762）

Much as Antonio Sartorio's Orfeo （mentioned above）tried to announce the arrival of singer-dominatedopera seria，where stories mattered less than high- Baroque vocal pyrotechnics，Gluck later championed his own counter-revolution，literally bringing opera back to its roots with a stripped-down score smoothing the contrasts between aria and recitative and keeping various musical elements in service to the narrative. Gone were the convoluted subplots that filled the operas of Handel，Scarlatti and Vivaldi （and scores of less talented artists），opening the gates to a generation of composers who viewed opera as a truly unified artform. Though premiered in Vienna，the opera was originally set to an Italian libretto and owes much to French operatic traditions. While in lesser hands，this might be a recipe for disaster-arrows from all directions，landing nowhere—Gluck manages to spin a synthesized，coherent whole，with a broad range of influences that does much to explain the opera，s long-running appeal.

4. Orpheus in the Underworld

Jacques Offenbach （1858/1874）

Gluck not only announced new directions in opera composition，he also set off a revolution in Orpheus settings;soon Charpentier，Lully，Telemann and even Haydn were getting in on the act. So how would any self-respecting young composer make an impression？By playing it all for laughs. Offenbach's first full-length stage work—whether to call it a comic opera or an operetta is still in question-spoofed not only the Orpheus craze but also Napoleonic government and politics. Critical opinion was split over the opera's irreverence （bothat its 1858 premiere and its expanded 1874 revival），though the music itself quickly wormed its way into the public ear. One of the great ironies in Offenbach's （or rather，librettists Hector Cremieux and Ludovic Halevy's）account is that Eurydice can't stand Orpheus's singing—a sentiment that makes its way into Aucoin and Ruhl's version when Eurydice worries that Orpheus loves music more than he does her.

5. The Mask of Orpheus

Harrison Birtwistle （1986）

Acclaimed as a masterpiece at its London premiere and restaged some three decades later as part of ENO's “Orpheus season，”Birtwistle's three- hour deconstruction is not the place to start if you and Orpheus are just getting acquainted. Rather than chronologically recounting the Greek legend，Birtwistle and librettist Peter Zinovieff let the narrative unfold from various directions，reveling in contradictions existent in various versions of the tale. Epic in visual as well as sonic grandeur，the original set and costume designs worked hard to achieve a certain timelessness—much of Act 3，in fact，has its events flowing backward—but Birtwistle，s majestically complex score，along with an electronic soundscape by Barry Anderson that manipulates many acousticinstruments （most notably the harp），stylistically sets the piece squarely in the mid-1980s.

6. Orphee

Philip Glass （1993）

The first of Glass，s Jean Cocteau Trilogy，Orphee is as idiosyncratically intimate as Birtwistle's Mask is epically expansive. In his 1950 film，Cocteau used the story as an extended parable on artistic life，where success leads to peer ridicule and eventual freedom in isolation. Because of its combination of film projection and live performance，Orphee is less spacious than much of Glass，s stage works，owing in part to the tempo of the original film. But the score is rather more than a movie soundtrack，regularly hauling characters and entire emotional states from two-dimensional projections onto the three-dimensional stage. Despite its vaguely French soundworld（Glass was a student of Nadia Boulanger and often sounds as if he swallowed Berlioz's Treatise on Orchestration whole），the film takes the German term Gesamtkunstwerk at face value. If its true definition is a work that incorporates all the art forms of a given time，it does beg the question what kind of music Wagner would have written in the cinematic age.