Ann Arbor. (North America).(Orfeo ed Euridice)

Ann Arbor has a love affair going with Ewa Podles. Having jumped in as an unknown replacement for Cecilia Bartoli in a thunderously received 1997 recital here, the magnificent Polish contralto has returned several times in recital and oratorio to great acclaim. In November, the enterprising University Music Society stepped forward where most American companies (including New York's entire opera establishment) have foolishly -- even arrogantly -- refused to go, creating a viable new production for and around this uniquely gifted singer, now at the peak of her powers.

The ornate 1920s splendor of the Michigan Theatre witnessed three performances of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (in a composite edition), a simple yet notably beautiful production (deft sets by Graceann Warn and entrancing costumes by Nephelie Andonyadis, warmly bathed in Scott Zielinski's lighting) that could and should tour other venues. The staging marked a collaboration with the Peter Sparling Dance Company, another of Ann Arbor's cultural assets; as often happens when even a manifestly talented choreographer directs this piece, there was simply too much dancing. Sparling and conductor Martin Katz bandied about the terms "ballet-opera" and "opera-ballet" in the program, but in fact Gluck and Calzabigi called Orfeo an "azione teatrale." Showily choreographing the overture set up visual expectations that Michael Spencer Philips's commandingly danced Jupiter was to be the protagonist of the piece; it also undercut the starkness of the opening funeral scene. Sparling's fine ideas for the scenes of the Furies and Blessed Spirits ...