o olho que canta > Epilogue to Orpheus

Epilogue to Orpheus 2002/2006

commissioned by Suite Muziekweek Amsterdam
video and music Mendel Hardeman
acting Milena Mizgiert, Susanne Dick, Rüdiger Meyer, RosaEja Barslund
make-up Judith Vonk
format video (DV-PAL, 4:3)

This video was originally created as part of HARPSICHORPHEUS, the harpsichord opera I had made with Gośka Isphording in 2002. There the soundtrack was a piece by Louis Andriessen called "Overture to Orpheus", and the video I made to it had the title "Epilogue to Orpheus". I never really liked the music, so in 2006 I decided to write a new soundtrack for it, and completely re-edit the video.

It was meant as a comment on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Euridice - I wanted to turn the story around, or at least, the final conclusion which is usually presented. I had always heard the story ending with a sigh for poor Orpheus, who had lost his beloved Euridice forever. Never heard anyone thinking of the other side: Euridice, with her distress and rage, lost forever just because Orpheus was unable to trust her and the gods, and had turned around to look. I tried to voice Euridice's anger, putting her dead body up against him as a curse.

In the video, the naked dead body of Euridice lies on white sheets, surrounded by three people with black robes covering their entire bodies, as burqa's. One of them carries a small jar filled with blood, and a reed. He starts writing on the body, in blood: "You looked back" "You looked back" "You looked back", while the other two roll the body over and over, in such a way that the text runs around in spiral covering the entire body, from breast to feet. The blood gradually stains the white sheet, and towards the end everything is covered in red.

performance history
28.10.02, Suite Muziekweek, Muziekcentrum de IJsbreker, Amsterdam
2002 version, as part of HARPSICHORPHEUS
01.05.03, de Witte Dame, Eindhoven
2002 version, as part of HARPSICHORPHEUS