Opera "Orpheus": content, video, interesting facts, history

K. Monteverdi Opera "Orpheus"

This work was born when the very concept of "opera" did not exist. And it is symbolic that the ancient Greek myth about the singer formed the basis of the first musical drama Claudio Monteverdi "Orpheus".

Summary

In the prologue, Music herself addresses the viewer and wishes to find harmony — the one that Orpheus brought to this world with his singing.

Nymphs and shepherds celebrate the marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice. The singer enjoys happiness, but soon receives terrible news - Eurydice died from a snake bite while picking flowers. Orpheus is ready to go to the underworld in order to return his beloved.

Hope leads Orpheus to the gates of the underworld and leaves him - then he must go alone. Charon refuses to transport him through the Styx, remaining indifferent to the pleas. However, the singing of Orpheus lulls the ferryman to sleep, and he independently crosses the Styx by boat. The spirits of the underworld are amazed at the power of this mortal, for whom, it seems, nothing is impossible.

Proserpina is touched by the suffering of Orpheus, and she persuades her husband to let Eurydice go. But Pluto puts the only condition - Eurydice will follow Orpheus, if he never looks back. Orpheus sets off on his way back, but doubts Pluto’s honesty: does the beloved really follow? He turns around and loses Eurydice forever. Spirits admit that the singer has overcome the forces of the underworld, but not himself.

Orpheus is embraced by the pain of irreversible loss. He vows to never again love a woman and devote his life to lyre and singing, with which he will glorify Eurydice. His father, Apollo, invites his son to heaven, where he will calm the grief, will gain eternal life and be able to see the face of Eurydice among the stars. Shepherds praise Orpheus, ascending to the gods.

A photo

Interesting Facts

• The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice became the basis for more than 20 pieces of music. Among them are the operas The Descent of Orpheus to Hell by M.-A. Sherpantier, "Orpheus and Eurydice." K.V. Gluck, the opera-buff "Orpheus in Hell" by J. Offenbach, the ballet "Orpheus" by I. Stravinsky, and the zong-opera "Orpheus and Eurydice" by A. Zhurbin.
• Total Monteverdi wrote three operas. From the second, "The Returns of Ulysses", "Orpheus" is 33 years.
• In 1969, the conductor Nikolaus Arnoncourt orchestrated the score of "Orpheus" and performed with the orchestra, which included authentic baroque instruments.
• In modern productions, the practice of performing the part of Orpheus, not a tenor, but a baritone, has developed. The parts of Eurydice and Music are often performed by one singer, as are the parts of Proserpine and Hope, which have become contraltic.
• At the same time with Monteverdi, Vincenzo Gonzaga worked as a painter PP Rubens, in the creative heritage of which is the painting "Orpheus and Eurydice."

Top Opera Numbers

"Vi ricorda o bischi ombrosi" - Orpheus aria (listen)

"Rosa del ciel" - Orpheus aria (listen)

History of creation and productions

All searches for the origins of the appearance of "Orpheus" lead to another work on the same plot - the composition of the composer Jacopo Peri "Eurydice", presented at the Florentine court in 1600. Most likely, both Monteverdi and the future librettist of his first opera, Alessandro Strigio, were present at his premiere. And, probably, when seven years later it became necessary to create an essay for the carnival in Mantua, where Monteverdi worked at the court of the Duke Gonzaga, his theme was found quickly.

The libretto was based on the books of Ovid and Virgil, where the ancient Greek myth about Orpheus and Eurydice found its reflection. It is impossible not to notice how close the text of Strigio is, up to direct quotation, to the text of Ottavio Rinuccini, the librettist of Eurydice. Initially, the opera had a very indefinite end - Orpheus met Bacchantes, who were angry with him because he renounced women's love, and then simply left the stage. Apollo's party at the premiere was absent. However, a later version, as follows from the publication of the score of 1609, already included the Appolon phenomenon and the departure of Orpheus to the gods.

February 24, 1607 "Orpheus" was first performed in Mantua in the palace of Vincenzo Gonzaga. The title role was performed by the famous tenor Francesco Rasi. The roles of Music, Proserpine and Hope were made by the famous Florentine eunuch Giovanni Malia, who learned the party for 8 days. Eurydice was most likely sang by an eunuch from Mantua, a monk of Girolamo Bakchini. The performance was given with a modest orchestra in the chambers of the Duke Margaret’s sister, where there were hardly more spectators than the participants of the performance. Perhaps this explains the finale of the opera - the Apollo phenomenon required scale and theatrical machinery, the presence of which, with the limited size of the stage area, was impossible to ensure. From the subsequent correspondence of the duke himself it is known that all those present were satisfied with the presentation, and a week later he was repeated. Over the next decades, Orpheus was performed in several Italian cities, however, there is no exact information about these performances. Monteverdi himself no longer returned to this work. After his death, she was in oblivion for more than three centuries.

Only by the end of the 19th century musicians and musicologists began to be interested in the work of Monteverdi, various versions and orchestrations of Orpheus appeared. In 1911, in Paris, the opera was first staged on a professional theater stage. In 1912 she sounded in concert in New York, in 1929 in Leningrad in Russian. Today, "Orpheus" is in demand on the stage: every season in theaters of the world is given up to 160 performances.

The birth of the opera

The term "opera" (opera in Italian - work, composition, creation) was not used to define a musical drama until 1650. The names “drama in music” or “fairy tale in music” were used, and the works themselves differed only slightly from madrigal, one of the main vocal forms of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Among the predecessors of the opera were pastoral pieces popular in Italy during the Renaissance, most notably Aminata by Torquato Tasso (1544-95) and Pastor Fido by Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612), which included songs and choirs. A whole series of pastoral genre conventions subsequently became typical of baroque opera, for example, the mistaken adoption of one character for another, the presence of minor comic characters, an indispensable happy ending.

Another precursor of the opera was the Venetian comic madrigals of the end of the 16th century, for which the composers Orazio Vecchi and Adriano Banqueri became famous. This genre had its own characteristics: there was no musical separation between the protagonist and the choir, all the numbers were performed by groups of singers. Finally, the time has come for a genius who is able to crystallize various musical trends into genuine vocal drama. They became Claudio Monteverdi.

By the end of the 16th century, the concept of "new music" began to take shape, which was far from the principles of the composition of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance - it was based on a rethinking of the text associated with music. He becomes more poetic and meaningful, thereby influencing the listener's emotions more. Singing, especially solo, acquires new functions that emphasize the character of the hero. From this point on, one can speak of the birth of bel canto art. Three types of singing stood out: virtuosic coloratura (cantar passaggiato), simple singing (cantar sodo), sensual singing (cantar d'affetto). In Orpheus, Monteverdi used all of them to convey dramatic expression.

For the first time, each opera hero received his melodic "face", their life vicissitudes were accompanied by identical mood music, the dialogues were not recitative, but chanted. The music is based on the polyphonic principle, and it includes 33 different instruments as part of the Monteverdi Orchestra. Just 30 years after the premiere of Orpheus, the first stage opera, Andromeda by B. Ferrari and F. Manelli, took place in the Venetian theater of San Cassiano. It is symbolic that the opera "father" Claudio Monteverdi had already become a Venetian by this time, holding the position of conductor of the Cathedral of San Marco. Three years later, his novelty, the opera Ulysses Return, sounded in San Cassiano.

"Orpheus" on video

The performance of the Theater Real, 2009. Staged by Mateo Richetti, conductor William Christie. In the main parties: Dietrich Henschel (Orpheus), Maria Grazia Schiavo (Eurydice).

Performance of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, 2007. Staged by Trisha Brown, conductor Rene Jacobs, in major roles: Simon Kinliside, Juanita Lascarro.

The performance of the Theater Liceu, 2002. Staged by Gilbert Deflo, conductor Jordi Savall, in major roles: Furio Zanasi, Ariana Savall.

Film version of the performance of the Zurich Opera, 1978. Staged by Jean-Pierre Ponnel, conductor Nikolaus Arnoncourt, in major roles: Philippe Huttenloher, Dietlinde Turban (sings by Rachel Yakar).

The first opera is noticeably different from the classical samples of the genre created by Mozart and Verdi, but it has the main component inherent in the best works of art - emotional infectivity and authenticity. They made "Orpheus" truly immortal.

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