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Posted by Sasha Burchuk

Photo credit: Portland Opera/Cory Weaver.

Portland, Oregon might just be the last frontier in America where people hoot and howl at the end of an Opera…like it's a Blazers' game, or the Rodeo. There was a lot of hollering going on after the curtain fell on Sunday, so I guess the crowd must have liked it. My mixed feelings might have more to do with my Opera snobbery than anything else, a product of my rearing in Washington, DC, and my family's frequent trips to the Kennedy Center to see Madame Butterfly, Aida, The Barber of Seville, more operas than I can remember; more freaky old ladies papier mache'd in makeup who were friends of my mother's — who wanted to pinch my cheeks even at age fourteen — than I care to.

Glass' interpretation, rendered in 1992 after the death of his young wife, Candy Jernigan, explores the dark romantic fascination with death and ruin embodied by the existentialists of post-Lost Generation France (Glass based his work on Cocteau's film Orfée, c. 1950). Orpheus is a young contemporary poet who after having achieved great success has fallen out of style, as evinced by the opening scene at a party for his rival, a young poet named Cegeste. Drunk and reckless Cegeste is involved in a brawl, then runs out in to the street and is hit by two paranormal motorcyclists. Death, disguised as The Princess, then enlists the soul of Cegeste and her chauffeur Heurtebise (Hermes) in a ruse designed to ensnare Orpheus, with whom she has fallen in love. To pull him down to the underworld, Death takes his wife Eurydice "without orders," while Orpheus is entranced by cryptic messages that are being broadcast on a radio station that is tuned to the other side. Orpheus deliriously interprets the surrealist jargon as creative inspiration. What's novel about the Cocteau-Glass interpretation (besides the latter motifs of a spirit radio station, Death being the editor of a publishing company, etc) is that they are two among sixty six other versions that have happy endings, departing from classic Roman versions by Virgil and Ovid.

Even though I was put off by the corniness of Glass' development of the main protagonist, I would still recommend it to anyone who appreciates his music, or the opera, or really great set design. I would also recommend it to any opera outsider who might want to dabble there, as it would be a good introduction, the myth of Orpheus being so well known that the play would be accessible to non-opera buffs. I absolutely loved the score that Philip Glass composed, it marches through both acts while retaining that Glass feel of watery ethereal underworld wonder, and guides the play through every motion toward its finale. The execution of the ouvre was well done by the Portland Opera. The plays weaker point is that the plot development isn't there. It's a take on Orpheus that assumes that the viewers have seen the Cocteau interpretation of Orfée. So while it serves as a novel modern day companion to the piece, it falls short on its own if you're not familiar with the Cocteau (you might want to make that your homework if you plan on attending). On a visual level, the production is prodigious. Set designer Andrew Lieberman has managed to achieve some remarkable feats through the use of mirrors (amplified by the use of on-stage doubles, which contribute to the overall surrealist feel).

Also, contrary to my mixed impression, there are dozens of enthusiasts of the performance who have left their grateful comments on the Portland Opera's facebook page like an offering of red roses. You can read them here.

Tickets available through ticketmaster, $20-$155. Or you can show up an hour before the performance and hope to get rush tickets, $20 general public, $10 seniors/students/military.