Perséphone 1961

Synopsis
Artists

Perséphone descends to the Underworld…

…in compassion for the hapless Shades, there to become Pluto’s wife. Springtime accompanies her ascent back to terrestrial life and a second marriage.

(presented on a double-bill with The Santa F Opera Ballet performing Maurice Ravel’s Clarissa and Johann and Josef Strauss’ Le Wagon Couvert)

Melodrama in Three Parts By

Andre Gide and Igor Stravinsky

Part I

The Abduction of Persephone. Eumolpus, the priest of Demeter, a Greek goddess of summer and harvest, narrates: Demeter has entrusted her daughter Persephone, goddess of spring, to the care of the Nymphs.

Persephone appears, playing happily with the Nymphs among flowers on the first morning of the world. Eumolpus calls the narcissus the most beautiful flower of all. Whoever breathes its fragrance will see the unknown Underworld. The Nymphs warn Persephone not to approach and pluck the narcissus. Eumolpus, however, appeals to her compassion for the poor people of the Underworld, Shades without hope under the reign of Pluto. Persephone must console them by bringing spring to their eternal winter. She bends over the chalice of the narcissus. “How can I still laugh and sing with you, my sisters, now that I have seen people suffering …,” Persephone exclaims to the Nymphs. She plucks the narcissus and descends to the Underworld.

Part II

Persephone in the Underworld. Eumolpus narrates: Thus, Homer tells us, Pluto, the wintry King of the Underworld, seized Persephone from her mother and spring from the earth.

Persephone awakens in the Underworld. “What are you doing? What can I do to bring you happiness?” she asks the Shades. They answer her: “Nothing is achieved here … The death of time makes life eternal . . . Without hatred or love, without pain or envy everyone pursues all that has been . . . Tell us of spring, immortal Persephone.” Persephone reflects how serene and beautiful her life had been with her mother Demeter on earth. Pluto calls, and Eumolpus reminds Persephone that her destiny is to reign’ as his queen. She must drink from the cup of Lethe to forget her compassion, and she must accept all the treasures of the world which Pluto’s servants now offer to her. Persephone refuses. Surrounded by the Hours of Day and Night she is presented with a pomegranate by Mercury. Persephone takes a bite of this fruit; its taste reminds her of the earth she has lost. Once more she gazes into the chalice of the narcissus, the only symbol of spring she had brought to the Underworld. Through the narcissus Persephone perceives frozen rivers and sees her mother searching for her in the winter night. The Shades tell Persephone that Demeter will no longer hear her voice; but Eumolpus relates that the King of Eleusis has allowed -Demeter to adopt a little boy by the name of Demophon, later to be known as Triptolemus. Prospering and smiling under Demeter’s care, the baby brings new hope of life and spring; growing up, he learns from Demeter the use of the plow and how to sow the seed. “No longer will you be the Queen of the Underworld, but you will be the Queen of Spring on earth,” Persephone is told. “Demeter, I see you open your arms to embrace your daughter reborn . . . Pluto will not hold me back … My husband on earth, my Triptolemus full of splendor, you are calling me . . . I belong to you, I love you.”

Part III

Persephone Reborn. Eumolpus narrates: Thus, Homer tells us, Triptolemus caused Persephone to return to her mother and to bring spring back to the earth.

Persephone ascends from the Underworld, serious and silent despite the love that surrounds her. Having known the frustration and the sad monotony of the lower world, she can no longer live on earth alone: “Night will follow day as winter will follow autumn … I am yours, Triptolemus … Take me, I am your Persephone; but I am also the wife of the gloomy Pluto … and I will return to the world of the Shades who suffer …” Mercury leads Persephone back to the Underworld. She accepts as her destiny the role of bringing love and pity to the realm of the dead. The grain must die under the earth so that it may be reborn in the spring and grow to become golden wheat in the summer.