Orpheus review: This production’s significance cannot be overstated

Opera North’s east-meets-west fusion of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is a triumphant musical initiative

Musical traditions have been combined in triumphant production of ‘Orpheus’ (Tristram Kenton)

We Europeans tend to think of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as “ours”, but the story of a singer who loses his bride to snake-bite, visits the underworld to reclaim her, and loses her again through carelessness, has wider roots. The Sanskrit Mahabharata epic, as old as the Greek version, contains exactly the same story, snake-bite and underworld bargain included.

This fact – not often acknowledged – is one of the elements powering a remarkable operatic production which has opened to acclaim in Leeds prior to a tour of the North.

Might it be possible to marry those versions of the myth by harnessing their respective musical traditions? The idea of such a marriage has precedents. Fifty years ago, Yehudi Menuhin and Ravi Shankar had a shot at combining their respective musical traditions with their celebrated record West Meets East, but that was more a meeting than a meld.