Starting May 16, Anthony Roth Costanzo returns to his roots, headlining Mark Morris鈥檚 exuberant production of Orfeo ed Euridice. The Christoph Willibald Gluck opera, based on the myth of Orpheus, is currently running through June 8. The countertenor recently spoke to the Met鈥檚 Christopher Browner about imbuing Gluck鈥檚 understated music with maximum emotion.
Where does Orfeo rank among your roles?
Anthony Roth Costanzo: It鈥檚 perhaps my favorite Baroque role鈥攖hough it鈥檚 not fully Baroque. It comes from an inflection point in the history of opera. It鈥檚 Gluck鈥檚 idea of 鈥渞eform opera,鈥� so it follows on from the Baroque tradition but breaks from its formulas. In earlier operas, we have all this coloratura representing extremity of emotion鈥攎adness, anger, distress鈥攂ut Gluck strips all of that decoration away and leaves space to communicate the emotion much more directly.
Where are some places he 鈥渓eaves space鈥�?
A good example is the famous aria 鈥淐he far貌 senza Euridice?,鈥� after Orfeo loses Euridice. It鈥檚 in a major key and is set to a kind of a dance rhythm. On the surface, it doesn鈥檛 seem very sad. But actually, I think Gluck is leaving a blank canvas so that the emotion can come through in the interpretation. My job is to make it devastating.
How will you do that?
There are three repetitions of the text and melody, and I see them as three different stages of grief. The first is the shock at looking down at his dead wife, and the second is anger and frustration. It鈥檚 not until the third verse that we really feel sadness. All that comes from dynamics and changes in tempo, as well as some small ornaments that I add to really wring the aria for every bit of emotion.
What are some of the other musical highlights for you?
I think the best page in the whole score is after the Furies have told Orfeo that he can鈥檛 enter the Underworld, and he sings, 鈥淢ille pene, ombre sdegnose, come voi sopporto anch鈥檌o.鈥� Basically, he says, 鈥淛ust like you, I鈥檝e experienced a thousand pains.鈥� The harmonies are spectacular, but it鈥檚 also a place where the message comes together with my life. Orfeo is trying to use his music to sway people who aren鈥檛 interested, and my mission in life is not only to sing opera but to bring all kinds of new audiences to the art form. At that moment, I feel a particular connection to him.
