Following its acclaimed Queensland debut in 2019, Opera Queensland’s Orpheus & Eurydice, in association with Circa, is on its way to the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival, where it will premiere next week.
This renowned production was later picked up by Opera Australia (2024) and West Australian Opera (2024).
The combination of Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh Festival is now a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and World Cup in terms of global ticketed events.
Firm friends and artistic collaborators Patrick Nolan and Yaron Lifschitz.
The Edinburgh International Festival has named the Opera Queensland and Circa co-production of Orpheus & Eurydice as one of the key headline shows of this year’s festival. Created by OQ in collaboration with the Brisbane-based contemporary circus company Circa, the Edinburgh season will mark the production’s European premiere. Circa director Yaron Lifschitz and Opera Queensland artistic director and CEO Patrick Nolan are firm friends as well as creative collaborators and both are jetting off to Scotland to bask in the premiere limelight. As they deserve to.
The idea to fuse opera and contemporary circus was the brainchild of Nolan, who envisioned a bold new collaboration with Circa that would become the company’s first ever opera-circus production.
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Circa has a knack for collaborating and later this week they share the stage at QPAC’s Concert Hall with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra in Circa & The Art of Fugue, which will feature Circa acrobats interpreting, in their own unique fashion, an unfinished work by Johann Sebastian Bach.
‘Opera must embody emotions; an opera singer does that with their voice, an acrobat does that with their physicality’
Having worked and studied together almost three decades ago at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Nolan and Circa founder Yaron Lifschitz found common ground in their Orpheus & Eurydice collaboration.
“I was excited about seeing how he would respond to directing an opera,” Nolan says of his pal. “It was just a matter of finding a work that would suit his sensibility and allowing his acrobats to shine alongside the singers. I knew of Yaron’s deep knowledge and passion for music and trusted him to respond deeply to the extraordinary beauty of Gluck’s Orpheus & Eurydice score. Opera must embody emotions; an opera singer does that with their voice, an acrobat does that with their physicality.”
Orpheus & Eurydice has proved a runaway success, captivating Queensland audiences before dazzling Perth and Sydney crowds in 2024 when it was presented by West Australian Opera followed by Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House.
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A highlight of the 2024 arts year in Australia, Orpheus & Eurydice breathes new life into an ancient myth. Heartbroken Orpheus has the chance to rescue his wife Eurydice from the underworld. But there’s one condition: he mustn’t look at her during their long journey home. A figure is suspended in mid-air, twisting and turning as if caught between dimensions. A tower of acrobats balances and, from a glass house, our hero sets out to save his wife. This is Gluck’s 1762 opera reimagined for the 21st century – visceral, visually explosive and emotionally raw.
Soaring vocals, hypnotic visuals and acrobatic feats plunge the audience into an ancient tale of love, lust and loss. Gramophone Award-winning countertenor Iestyn Davies stars as Orpheus, haunted by visions of Eurydice, performed by Australian soprano Samantha Clarke. As Orpheus descends into insanity, Eurydice’s own descent into the underworld unfolds in breathtaking acrobatic choreography.
Opera Queensland and Circa have now undertaken two successful collaborations – Orpheus & Eurydice (2019) and Dido and Aeneas (2024), both of which showcase Lifschitz’s multifaceted abilities as a director who understands both the nuances of opera and the physicality of circus.
“Yaron’s sensitive direction of both productions has been another crucial element in their success,” Nolan adds. “When Circa and Opera Queensland combine forces there is an alchemy and a certain paradox in the idea of circus performance connecting with the fantastical nature of opera.”
Circa joins with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a chorus from Scottish Opera for the European premiere.
Under the artistic leadership of festival director Nicola Benedetti, Edinburgh International Festival is taking over the Scottish capital from August 1 to 24. Established in 1947, it remains one of the most globally significant cultural events, second only to the Olympics and World Cup in terms of ticketed attendance.
The production will be staged at the Edinburgh Playhouse, August 13 to 16.