University Artist Series: The Power of (Musical) Myth - Spring 2025

Three unique vocal chamber works that explore the interplay between Western Classical Music and Greek Mythology.

Haydn’s secular cantata Arianna a Naxos (1789) depicts the Theseus myth from his lover Ariadne’s point of view, after she finds herself deserted by Theseus on the island of Naxos. It explores themes of love, trauma, and abandonment as well as the inherent dangers of what Joseph Campbell calls the “hero’s ego.”

Jonathan Dove’s one-act opera L’altra Euridice (2001) tells the traditional Orpheus myth, “but in a radically altered account of the transpiring events, reversing Orpheus’ and Plutone’s roles as
hero and villain.” The Orphean myth explores the universal themes of love, death, and the power of music.

Finally, Benjamin Britten’s dramatic cantata for mezzo-soprano, Phaedra (1976), revisits the Theseus myth from his wife, Phaedra’s point of view. Originally composed for mezzo-soprano
Janet Baker and a small orchestra, we will perform the work reduced for voice, piano, and percussion. The text is drawn from Robert Lowell’s translation of Racine’s Phèdre, “in which
Phaedra describes her passion for Hippolytus, her stepson, his rejection of her, and her subsequent decision to poison herself to achieve some degree of ‘purity’.” The work explores
themes of lust, desire, despair, and moral virtue.

Featuring:

Devon Russo (bass-baritone)

Caroline O’Dwyer (mezzo-soprano)

David Gilliland (piano, harpsichord)

Kyle Forsthoff (percussion)

Joe Bentley (bass)

Jane Murray (oboe)

Luis Viquez Cordoba (conductor)

Host or Publisher University of Rhode Island Department of Music