Director-choreographer Mark Morris's much-lauded 2007 production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice returns to the repertoire, with Stephanie Blythe taking on one of the pinnacles of the mezzo-soprano repertory, the role of Orfeo, for the first time in her career. Soprano Danielle De Niese, an acclaimed singer of eighteenth-century music and a graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, sings Euridice for the first time at the Met. Heidi Grant Murphy returns as Amor, which she performed at the production's premiere in 2007.
Met Music Director James Levine conducts the first five performances, beginning January 9. Reviewing the 2007 premiere of this production, the New York Times said Morris's production was "often magical and unapologetically fanciful," and that Levine "drew emphatic, majestic playing from the Met Orchestra." The final two performances, on January 28 and 31, are conducted by Kazem Abdullah in his Met debut, with Ying Huang in the role of Amor. The costume designer is Isaac Mizrahi, Allen Moyers designed the sets, and the lighting design is by James F. Ingalls.
The January 24 matinee will be transmitted to movie theaters around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series. The groundbreaking series, seen by 935,000 people last season, is being shown in more than 30 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato hosts the transmission, which will be directed by Barbara Willis Sweete.
Stephanie Blythe, who scored a triple triumph when she sang three diverse leading roles in the new production of Puccini's Il Trittico in 2007, has emerged as one of the Met's leading artists. When she sings her first Orfeo, she will be following in the footsteps of some of the most renowned mezzo-sopranos and contraltos in the history of the Met. Giulia Ravogli created a sensation in the 1891-92 season followed by Louise Homer who sang the role often between 1909 and 1914, frequently with Toscanini in the pit. In the same period, the legendary French contralto Marie Delna made her Met debut in the part, and Margerete Matzenauer sang a few performances as well. Kerstin Thorborg headlined the revivals from 1938 to 1940, and the role became a particular success for the great American mezzo Risë Stevens in the 1950s. Grace Bumbry and Marilyn Horne brought their famous interpretations to the Met in the 1970s in the final revivals before the present production premiered in 2007 with countertenor David Daniels as Orfeo.
About the performers
Stephanie Blythe was recently named the 2009 vocalist of the year by Musical America. Following her first performance as Fricka in Die Walküre at the Met last season, the New York Times said, "Ms. Blythe has proved her excellence in everything from Handel to Puccini. This was her first Wagner role at the Met, and she was glorious, singing with sumptuous tone, unforced power and textual clarity." Later this season at the Met, she adds another new role to her repertoire, Je?ibaba in Dvořák's Rusalka. Last season at the Met, Blythe, who was a National Council Auditions finalist in 1994, added Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera to her repertoire, in addition to Fricka. Since her debut in 1995, she has appeared in 20 roles here, including Dame Quickly in Falstaff, Cornelia in Giulio Cesare, Baba the Turk in The Rake's Progress, and Eduige in the company premiere of Handel's Rodelinda (2004). When she sang three roles in the new production of Il Trittico, which was transmitted live as part of The Met: Live in HD series, the Financial Times saluted her accomplishment declaring, "Each of the operas was dominated by Stephanie Blythe, first as the grungy Frugola, then as the icy Principessa, finally as the bumbly Zita. One left loving her...."
The youngest person ever chosen for the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Program, Danielle De Niese makes her house role debut as Euridice. The Australian-born soprano, who grew up in California, sang Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare at the Met in 2007, a role that has also brought her acclaim at the Glyndebourne Festival, Paris Opera, Netherlands Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. The Wall Street Journal critic called de Niese "astonishing," declaring that she "captured Cleopatra's progression from flirt and seductress to a woman capable of despair and dignity." De Niese has had particular success in roles from such early music operas as Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, and Handel's Acis and Galatea, Ariodante, and Rodelinda. From the standard repertory, she is noted for Mozart roles such as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Despina in Così fan tutte.
