OrpheusPDX 2023 season: Moz and something modern

Published 5:09 pm Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Portland’s boutique opera company OrpheusPDX announced its new two-show season Tuesday, March 21.

The shows are Mozart’s “The Royal Shepherd” (Il Re Pastore) and Nico Muhly’s “Dark Sisters.”

The format is one classic bel canto opera and one contemporary masterpiece.

OrpheusPDX General and Artistic Director Christopher Mattaliano said both shows will again be at Portland State University’s 475-seat Lincoln Hall.

Mattaliano said: “Our first season in 2022 was more than we could have hoped for. We set a high bar artistically with Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” and Philip Glass’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Given the audience and press response to them, I feel we achieved our goal of providing high quality opera in a uniquely intimate setting, and I’m delighted to announce a season that I think will again move audiences in profound ways.”

“The Royal Shepherd” (Il Re Pastore) will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6, at Lincoln Hall, 1620 S.W. Park Ave., sung in Italian with English surtitles.

“Dark Sisters” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27, at Lincoln Hall, sung in English with English surtitles.

Mozart’s “The Royal Shepherd” is a tale of young love and royalty in disguise. Mattaliano says, “This comic gem — at its heart a simple story of love versus duty — wrestles with age-old questions about authenticity, identity, gender roles and what makes a good leader. Can you be true to yourself and still thrive in the public sphere?”

Muhly’s “Dark Sisters” is a story of resilience, survival, and ultimately of hope, as seen through the eyes of one extraordinary woman. “Based on the 2008 raid of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Texas, the opera follows the journey of Eliza, a sister-wife who questions what she has been taught and emerges as a singular voice, one who is no longer content to be one of many,” says Mattaliano. “Nico Muhly (b. 1981) is one of the most popular and prolific American composers writing today. He has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera on two separate occasions, and been described by Met General Manager Peter Gelb as “one of the most brilliant composing talents out there.”

Big on Spotify, Muhly has also composed for film, dance and theater, and worked with such diverse pop indie-folk artists as Joanna Newsom, Björk and Antony and the Johnsons.

Season subscriptions, ranging in price from $90 to $198, are available to renewing subscribers beginning March 21. New subscribers can sign up beginning April 22 at orpheuspdx.org or by calling 503-308-4828.

Tickets to individual productions range from $50 to $110, and some $15 tickets are available for students at each performance.

Apprentices

As part of the 2023 season, Mattaliano also announced the creation of a new OrpheusPDX program — The Pathways Program. “While I’m thrilled to present these two great works by Mozart and Muhly,” he said, “I’m particularly excited to launch our new apprenticeship program, in which young professionals and gifted students — in both performance and design — will be mentored by the established professional artists engaged by OrpheusPDX.”

The new program provides a pathway for these young artists to further their careers by gaining intensive hands-on experience throughout the season. The final details of this program, which will be in place for the 2023 season, are still being finalized and will be the subject of a separate announcement in the near future.

OrpheusPDX is inspired by the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus’ singing is so beautiful that even the savage beasts of Hades are moved to tears. Portland’s new opera company aspires to do the same — to touch the very soul of the community through the power of great music and singing.