Cosimo as Orpheus

a comic opera with music and libretto by Eliza Brown

(in progress)

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What can we learn about someone from the pictures they use to represent themselves? And what can we learn about ourselves from our responses? Eleonora's going to find out, because her fiancé just sent her (drumroll)....

 

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Portrait of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici as Orpheus

Agnolo Bronzino, Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

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Scenario

Naples, 1539: Eleonora di Toledo, the Spanish viceroy’s daughter, is engaged to Cosimo I de’ Medici, Duke of Florence. They’ve never met. 

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Cosimo sends a gift: a portrait of himself, styled as Orpheus. Eleonora eagerly scours the painting for clues about her betrothed, and four versions of Cosimo manifest in her mind. Each embodies a different interpretation of the painting, and a different outlook on masculinity, power, and love. They're all vying for her affection and claiming to be "the Real Cosimo." They don't get along.

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To settle the matter, Eleonora accepts a bet from the imaginary Cosimos: go to the underworld, where they will attempt to re-enact the Orpheus myth. Based on their performances on this mission, she must choose which is “the Real Cosimo.” But if she picks incorrectly, she stays in hell.  Will the Cosimos be up to the task? Only time, and an unlikely five-way buddy-comedy quest, will tell. 

 

Loosely inspired by historical events, this funny, heartfelt story sends up the operatic tradition of Orpheus while offering a modern exploration of gender, relationships, the images we use to construct our selves, and the multifaceted power of art.

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Gender Identity, Diversity and Equity

Cosimo as Orpheus addresses gender identity, diversity, and equity in several ways. It portrays a historical woman whose political power and social behaviors transgressed her culture’s gender norms. Through the Cosimos, Eleonora explores gender and masculinity, both theirs and her own. The Cosimos are played by an SMTB quartet, and the quartet’s tenor plays the voice of Cosimo the Virile while a drag king plays his body. Several of the opera’s smaller roles can be sung by multiple voice types. Cosimo as Orpheus thus nods to opera’s gender-bending history, while inviting casting, staging and design that go beyond the “pants role” to sensitively and joyfully engage modern understandings of gender and sexuality. Cosimo as Orpheus thus helps decouple gender and voice type, create roles that can affirm trans and non-binary singers, and equalize the imbalanced ratio of treble roles to talented treble voices.

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Cosimo as Orpheus is an excellent fit for opera professionals and companies invested in gender equity and expanding opera artistry beyond the gender binary. It is also apt for colleges and universities that seek shows with current themes, gender-flexible casting, and multiple quality treble roles.

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Development History

• Workshop production of version of Scene I, Center City Opera Theater, 2013

• Edes Prize for Emerging Artists 2015 runner-up award, incl. $5,000 in development funding 

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Performing Forces

Eleonora..........................................................soprano

Cosimo the Ardent (CA).......................soprano

Cosimo the Virile (CV)............................tenor (his voice); a drag king (his body)

Cosimo the Refined (CR)......................mezzo

Cosimo the Cunning (CC)....................baritone

Father/Charon.............................................baritone or mezzo (1 or 2 singers)

Hades.................................................................soprano, tenor, or countertenor

SSAA chorus of at least 8 singers

Underworld dancers/supernumeraries   

8-player chamber ensemble OR 2-keyboard reduction                                 

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