Orfeo ed Euridice

Story & Setting:

The myth of Orpheus, the lyre-wielding hero who ventures into the Underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice, has inspired adaptations from Virgil, to Ovid, to the current Broadway hit Hadestown. The Met’s production portrays the settings of Greek countryside and mythical underworld more conceptually than geographically, and includes the full Greek-style chorus in costume as various figures throughout history. Choreography by Mark Morris augments the work’s themes of desire, grief, and the power (and limits) of art.

Opera Notes:

Gluck’s operatic adaptation of the popular legend is not the first, but it was the vehicle for the composer to develop what he considered a new kind of opera. Disillusioned with the inflexible forms of the genre as they existed at the time, the composer sought to reform the operatic stage with a visionary and seamless union of music, poetry, and dance. He spurned the trend of vocal fireworks in favor of musical and dramatic refinement. The role of Orfeo, originally conceived for the male castrato voice, is now sung by a mezzo or, in this season’s case, a countertenor.
**This performance DOES NOT include an intermission.

Sung in

Italian

Length:

1 hour & 30 minutes

Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787)

Watch/Listen

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