Opera Parallèle mounts a vivid, multifold ‘Enfants’

Singers depict the actions of the two main characters in words and music, a pair of dancers shadows them in sync, and the brilliantly robust new production by Opera Parallèle that enjoyed a four-performance run over the weekend adds a layer of video commentary as well.

Paul and Elisabeth, two Parisian siblings, live together in a strange state of not-quite-incestuous closeness, indulging in shadowy “games” left over from their cloistered childhood and trying to fend off existential ennui.

In this mesmerizing 90-minute display, Glass’ richly evocative score — ledwith supple grace by conductor Nicole Paiement — interacted with the stage magic of director Brian Staufenbiel and choreographer Amy Seiwert to create a work that was at once elusive and sharp-edged.

Glass scored the work for three pianos (in this case the high-powered triumvirate of Kevin Korth, Keisuke Nakagoshi and Eva-Maria Zimmermann), which means that his trademark musical gestures — rippling arpeggios, moody minor harmonies, scales that seem to rise and rise like an Escher staircase — also boast a degree of well-articulated clarity.

The two performers inhabiting each of the main characters share a visual aspect — Elisabeth’s green dress and red hair, and Paul’s dark, natty three-piece suit work to create vivid rhymes — and their actions interweave on stage to make it unclear where one avatar ends and the other begins.

The strong lines of Seiwert’s choreography, which whirls with both narrative and decorative immediacy amid rolling beds and a bank of three video screens, is executed with forthright potency by Steffi Cheong and Brett Conway — the one sinuous and alert, the other full of athleticism and rubbery wit.

Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich’s impassioned performance as the interloper Agathe helped alleviate the general emotional coolness of the proceedings, and tenor Andres Ramirez did admirable double duty as Paul’s childhood friend Gérard and the speaking narrator (in English translation).