In the original libretto, Euridice can feel superficial to modern viewers because she is so focused on her external beauty. In addition to changing pronouns and the extremely difficult task of aligning syllables of her translations with the music, Yates has adjusted the way that O and E talk about beauty. Women getting married at all, they have a great future to look forward to, but they don’t have a whole lot of past.” “They haven’t gotten the chance to have a future. “It’s fascinating to us that on their wedding day, Euridice is taken away,” Yates said. This was especially of interest for the team because the fear and pain of not being able to be with the person you love is at the core of Orfeo ed Euridice. That’s exactly what the Seattle Opera is doing now, which gives the team the chance to tell the story of a marriage between two women. “To my knowledge, no one has presented Gluck’s Orfeo with a woman as a woman.” “Mezzos want to sing that, but always as a dude,” Yates said. Because the role of Orpheus was originally scored for a castrato, it is typically sung by a mezzo-soprano in modern productions, but she is always dressed as a man. In many ways, musical director and librettist Lucy Tucker Yates wanted to preserve the essence of Ranieri de’ Calzabigi’s libretto because of its universal themes of love and loss-but with the role of O the creative team saw an opportunity to explore these themes through an intersectional feminist lens. O + E features both an all-female cast of principal singers and an all-female creative team. O + E, Seattle Opera’s newest chamber production presented by the Programs and Partnerships Department, is a re-imagination of the tale that combines Gluck’s timeless score with a translated, updated English libretto. Gluck’s beloved opera brings to life the classic myth of Orpheus, the artistic demi-god who traveled to the underworld to reclaim his bride Eurydice, who was killed shortly after their wedding. Perhaps for the first time in the history of Christoph Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, a woman will perform as a woman in the role of Orpheus. Cast and creative team of O + E (Lucy Tucker Yates top row left) – photo copyright Philip Newton

Orpheus and eurydice seattle opera