Opera North: Orpheus – The Lowry
Opera North’s latest venture into Orpheus is a collaboration with Leeds-based South Asian Arts as their respective musical directors’ fuse Monteverdi’s operatic masterpiece, led by Laurence Cummings, with original compositions composed by Jasdeep Singh Degun reflecting the Indian classical tradition. Whilst the individual parts entertained and demonstrated some great musicianship and singing, it didn’t really add up to a satisfying whole which was often confusing on the eye and ear with its interrupted flow.
Whilst billed as a reimagining, the story of Orpheus (Nicholas Watts) the musician trying to retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice (Ashnaa Sasikaran), from the underworld remains the same as does the devastating conclusion when he looks back too soon and loses her forever. The interpreta...
