One of the many things that make Opera Theatre of St. Louis such a treasure is their willingness to take chances – to challenge the relatively conservative taste of its audience, either with new works or with older ones that have fallen out of the active repertoire. The final production of the 2001 season, the 1757 revision of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s 1737 drama Hippolytus and Aricia, is one of those older rarities, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why it isn’t done more often. The composer’s canny integration of récitatif ordinaire with the various airs anticipates the through-composed operas of 150 years later and the moral ambiguity of the characters of Theseus and Phaedra feels quite modern. The result is a completely compelling music drama, sung with ravishing beauty by a cast that manages the highly ornamented vocal lines with ease and brings out the very human drama in this complex tale of royal intrigue and warring deities.
The story of Hippolytus comes mostly from Racine’s Phèdre out of Seneca and Euripides. Queen Phaedra of Athens lusts for her stepson Hippolytus, but he’s in love with ex-princess Aricia, the only surviving member of the former royal family, all of whom were killed when King Theseus took the throne. When Theseus goes to hell – literally – in an attempt to bring an old friend back from Pluto’s domain Phaedra assumes he’s dead and tries to seduce Hippolytus but as she makes her play Theseus’ father Neptune whisks his son back to earth and...well, after that things get really complicated. The credit for turning what might be fustian nonsense into believable human drama goes both to Rameau’s dramatic and evocative music and to Margaret Stearns’ felicitous translation of the libretto.
And then there’s the splendid cast, providing a glorious evening of spectacular singing. Mezzo Delores Ziegler is a troubled and conflicted Phaedra, realizing all too late the disaster she has brought upon herself and her husband Theseus, sung with great authority and passion by baritone Thomas Barrett. Theseus is the truly tragic figure in the opera, a basically noble man undone by others. Barrett gives the role all he’s got, and that’s plenty.
Soprano Sari Gruber and tenor Marcel Reijans are completely engaging as Aricia and Hippolytus. Reijans probably deserves the operatic equivalent of a purple heart for having to effectively start the fourth act all over again after the show was momentarily interrupted by a storm-induced power failure. There’s also impressive work from the supporting cast, including soprano Lauren Skuce’s delightful Huntress and bass Morris DeRhon Robinson’s imposing Pluto.
Conductor Jane Glover does a fine job with both the delicate and dramatic aspects of Rameau’s music, and stage director Colin Graham’s decision to have the divertissements – that is, the dance numbers – performed by the cast rather than a corps de ballet turns out to be a wise one, helping to further integrate them with the action as Rameau intended. Applause also for Dipu Gupta’s simple, mother-of-pearl set, which allows lighting designer Christopher Akerlind to turn the stage into everything from the ocean to Hades without cumbersome set pieces.
In short, anyone who truly loves opera will love Hippolytus and Aricia. Call 314-961-0644 now and order tickets. There are only five performances, with the final one on Sunday, June 24th [2001]. Don’t miss it.