Organization

Admin

Cappella Mediterranea

Bozar

Conductor

Leonardo García Alarcón

Singer

Tenor

Valerio Contaldo

Orfeo

Soprano

Mariana Flores

Euridice

Guiseppina Bridelli

The messenger

Anna Reinhold

Proserpina

Bass

Alejandro Meerapfel

Pluto

Salvo Vitale

Caronte

Alessandro Giangrande

Apollo

Nicholas Scott

Echo

Julie Roset

The nymph

Estelle Lefort

Philippe Favette

Second spirit

Soloist

Matteo Bellotto

Leandro Marziotte

Others

Chœur de Chambre de Namur

Music

Hope

Orchestra

Orchestre Millenium

Monteverdi, L’orfeo

Geneva

Switzerland

Cité Universitaire de Genève

Brussels

Belgium

Henry Le Boeuf Zaal

Monteverdi, L’orfeo: L'Orfeo Monteverdi

Public

Simon Samuel

Approved

MONTEVERDI, ORFEO
Valerio Contaldo, Mariana Flores, Leonardo García Alarcón, Monteverdi Orfeo, Festival d'Aix En Provence, Cappella Mediterranea
Based on the myth of Orpheus’ attempt to rescue his wife Eurydice from the Underworld, l’Orfeo is a milestone in the history of music, marking the end of Renaissance music and the beginning of the Baroque art. As the individual emerged in art, “the individual became the centre of the new musical world”. Leonardo García Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea brilliantly interpret this magnificent love song that is also a poetic and theatrical fable about the power of music.
“Discreetly staged, this concert version glorifies the dramatic essence of a music that is brought to life with the trademark science and instinct of the Argentine conductor and his ensemble.”

Gilles Charlassier for Olyrix
THE FIRST GREAT OPERA IN HISTORY
None of this would have been possible without Monteverdi’s genius. He could transmit every slight inflection and emotion produced by the text in music, with incomparable artistry and mastery. Although the forms he was working with were so diverse, he was able to arrange musical and dramatic sequences with great coherence. By combining different stylistic elements drawn from both new (monodic) and old (polyphonic) music, he produced a mind-blowing amalgam. It was so innovative that almost four centuries later, we can still feel the same admiration and awe that struck the audience that first had the privilege of witnessing this phenomenon on 24 February 1607. There can be no doubt. The operatic genre was born with a masterpiece.

What can I say? When voices are silent, it is the music that speaks.
“The score of L’Orfeo reveals how innovative the work was and allows us to understand how building upon the rough sketches of his predecessors, Monteverdi developed an operatic model that would be used by generations to come. We can see how concerned he was with theatrical expression and its various modes, as well as instrumental colours and how they can be used to express certain moods, and even some aspects of staging. […]

Monteverdi was able to create such depth, thanks to his mastery of the polyphonic style. He managed to produce the imposing and terrifying effect of a double choir with five voices alone. […]

What can I say? When voices are silent, it is the music that speaks. There are no more words, just the expression of pain in an instrumental line that is supported by a bass that rises than falls in chromatic movements. […] Questions remain. The score provides us with some answers, but not all. It is the performer’s role to take the score and bring it back to life once again.”

Jerome Lejeune

Life, death, love and music are the four forces that drive human life, and L’Orfeo may be the opera that best embodies these themes.
“Monteverdi fully exploits the rich colours that are typical of the Baroque period. Using a centrifugal force, he directs an explosion of light towards all points of the universe. His Orfeo is masterful. He had the good fortune of being able to work with a libretto as rich as Striggio’s. Although very little has been said about it, we can imagine how the text must have ignited the composer’s creativity. L’Orfeo forces us to confront humanity itself. If life, death, love and music are the driving forces behind humanity, L’Orfeo may be the opera that best embodies them. Only music can bring us into dialogue with the afterlife and lead us on a search for our lost loved ones. Monteverdi was the first great orchestrator. That skill that would later disappear with Venice’s public opera, which reduced orchestration to violins, a few lutes and a harpsichord. L’Orfeo represents a sort of ideal. A desire to utilize all the instruments and colours in the world.”

Leonardo García Alarcón

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Ensemble