William Dart review: Neil Ieremia’s (m)Orpheus

Deborah Wai Kapohe as Eurydice and Samson Setu as Orpheus in (m)Orpheus. Photo / Andi Crown

There is so much to admire in Neil Ieremia’s production of (m)Orpheus, reclaiming a Covid casualty of NZOpera’s 2020 season.

Transposing Gluck’s 1762 opera Orfeo ed Euridice to the present-day South Pacific is a bold move, with a powerful cast of Māori and Pasifika performers and a fairly radical re-working of the original music, crisply conducted by Marc Taddei.

Ieremia as choreographer, bringing in dancers from his Black Grace company, imbues the staging with a lambent physicality, from the slow, mysterious procession during the overture to some suitably frenzied moments for the denizens of the underworld. Two pas de deux numbers elegantly embody the yearnings of the unhappy Orpheus.

A small chorus proves its mettle from the opening lamentation, sung in resonant Samoan. So too was the finale, in which Gluck originally marked the reunion of his Orpheus and Eurydice. But tonight, the singing is peppered with ebullient shouts, calls and stomps, as we celebrate not only our time and place but a hero who has come to terms with himself.

New Zealand Opera production (m)Orpheus choreographed by Neil Ieremia at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Photo / Andi Crown

Gareth Farr’s re-orchestration, with its effective use of two marimbas and many quirky delights, calls for a small body of instruments, resulting in occasionally exposed string writing, and awkward balance issues for wind instruments.

Samson Setu is a robust Orpheus, a confident baritone in a role many associate with mezzos or countertenors, and not always successful in making prosaic English recitative spring to life. Soprano Deborah Wai Kapohe as Eurydice reveals the benefits of experience here, inspiring her partner in an intensely moving duet.

Madison Nonoa’s Amor is a sprightly character, with a real feeling for a well-sculpted vocal line, not at all worried about delivering an aria from a Toyota Starlet.

Tracy Grant Lord’s sleek two-level set, symbolical on various levels, proves to be a major component of the show, with its significant central staircase. Particularly so in Ieremia’s unexpected postlude, played to a gorgeous piano transcription of a melody from the opera.

With two more performances this weekend, (m)Orpheus is not to be missed.

What: (m)Orpheus

Where: ASB Waterfront Theatre

When: Wednesday