Name: Orfeo ed Euridice
Start: 1991-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
End: 1991-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Royal Opera House

Organization

Conductor

Hartmut Haenchen

Stage director

Harry Kupfer

Set designer

Hans Schavernoch

Costume designer

Eleonore Kleiber

Lighting designer

Willibald Kämmer

Chorus master

Robin Stapleton

Singer

Countertenor

Jochen Kowalski

Orfeo

Soprano

Gillian Webster

Euridice

Jeremy Budd

Amor

Royal Opera House

Others

Chorus of the Royal Opera House

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Orfeo ed Euridice -  (Orpheus and Eurydice)

London

United Kingdom

"Harry Kupfer's version of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, originally conceived for the Berlin Komische Oper and now in the repertory of The Royal Opera, won the Olivier Award for ""Most Outstanding Achievement in Opera".

According to legend, Orpheus' magical power as a musician enabled him to regain his wife from the dead on condition that he did not look at her on the journey back from Hades - a condition it proved impossible to fulfil. In Harry Kupfer's updated version, Orfeo, in leather jacket, trainers and jeans, sees his Euridice die in a street accident. Succumbing to depression, he languishes in Hades - a psychiatric hospital - before taking his electric guitar to charm the beasts in an inner-city concrete jungle. Hans Schavernoch has designed an ingenious set with projected imagery on revolving screens and mirrors.

The German male alto, Jochen Kowalski, gives a virtuoso performance as the tormented Orfeo, with the young British soprano Gillian Webster as Euridice."

Gluck's masterwork Orfeo ed Euridice, in an outstanding production by Harry Kupfer, sung in Italian.

Euridice is dead. Her husband Orfeo is overwhelmed with grief and is longing for death. But Love intervenes and tells Orfeo that he can bring back his wife from the underworld, on the condition that he does not turn back to see her on the their way back to the living world. Orfeo takes on the quest. Begging before the chorus of the Furies, Orfeo is eventually admitted into the underworld and meets his wife. But on their journey back, Euridice is worried by her husband's indifference: "Beloved husband, will you leave me thus? I am consumed with grief; will you not console me?" Willing to comfort his wife, Orfeo turns back. Euridice expires in her husband's arms.

Premiered in 1762, Orfeo ed Euridice is a turning point in the history of opera. Freeing the plot from the conventions of the 18th century opera seria, Gluck introduces fluidity in the drama. The rigid alternation of aria and recitativo is abandonned; continity and unity are the cornerstones of Gluck's reform, and the lesson is learned by the following generation of opera composers, like Berlioz and Wagner. Besides, celebrated for its melodic invention, Orfeo ed Euridice gave to the lyric repertoire one of its most famous arias "J'ai perdu mon Eurydice" ("Che farò senza Euridice" in the Italian version) and some of the most important pieces for choir..

Orfeo ed Euridice Gluck

Public

Orpheus and Eurydice

Approved

Accordionist

Instrumentalist

Archlutenist

Baroque Flutist

Baroque Oboist

Baroque Trumpetist

Bassist

Bassoonist

Cellist

Clarinetist

Contrabassist

Cornettist

Flutist

Guitarist

Harper

Harpsichordist

Hornist

Lutenist

Mandoline Player

Musette de cour Player

Oboist

Organist

Percussionist

Pianist

Recorder Player

Saxophonist

Tenor Violinist

Theorbist

Timpani

Trombonist

Trumpeter

Tuba Player

Vibraphonist

Viola Pomposa Player

Viola da gamba

Viola d’amore Player

Violinist

Violino Piccolo Player

Violist

Actor

Broadcasting

Choir

Choreographer

Chorus Director

Composer

Dancer

Dramaturge

Executive producer

Extra

Hairstylist

Illustrator

Librettist

Makeup artist

Orchestra Operations

Other

Photographer

Poet

Repetiteur

Sound designer

Stage Manager

Teacher

Translator

Video designer

Vocal coach

Wig & Makeup Designer

Writer

Writing and performance

Baritone

Tenor

Bass

Bass-baritone

Contralto

Mezzo-soprano

Alto

Child vocalist

Continuo

Silent

Spoken

Watch full performance here: Orfeo ed Euridice (1991)

Orfeo ed Euridice - Preview clip

Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck, Tue 01 Jan 1991, From (1991/1991), Directed by Harry Kupfer,, Conductor Hartmut Haenchen, Royal Opera House, London, United Kingdom

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Videos

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues