Bejun Mehta recently starred as Orfeo in a new production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice to great acclaim at the Berlin State Opera. There is one performance remaining this spring (March 27) and Mr. Mehta will return to the role in Berlin on June 22 & 24 and July 1 & 3, with a spectacular cast featuring Elsa Dreisig as Euridice, Narine Yeghiyan as Amor, and Wolfgang Stiebritz as Jupiter. Bejun can also be seen as Orfeo on an ArtHaus Musik DVD release, with Václav Luks and the Collegium 1704 and Collegium Vocale 1704. The DVD, which celebrated the tricentenary of Gluck’s birth, was also recognized as a Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice selection.
Read on for an exemplary review from Süddeutsche Zeitung, highlighting Bejun’s recent triumphant portrayal of Orfeo:
“Bejun Mehta is probably the ideal Orfeo in today’s opera scene, an artist whose skill and vocal colors of his countertenor perfectly expresses the mythical singer of love in all of his pain, embodying complete emotional chaos. In the vocal showpiece of the opera, Mehta offers the world famous fading lament “Che farò senza Euridice,” without ever abandoning strict melodic-rhythmic control, and the deeply felt emotion.”
{Bejun Mehta ist auf der heutigen Opernszene wohl der ideale Orpheus, ein Künstler, der die Technik und die Stimmfarben seines Countertenors perfekt ausstellt, der den mythischen Sänger des Liebesschmerzes in all seinem Gefühlschaos vollendet verkörpert. Nicht nur im vokalen Prunkstück der Oper, der weltberühmten Verlust-Klage “Che farò senza Euridice”, bietet Mehta, ohne je die strenge melodisch-rhythmische Kontrolle aufzugeben, den tief empfundenen Affekt.} (Süddeutsche Zeitung)
