Name: L'Orfeo
Start: 2021-06-04T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2021-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Opéra-Comique

Organization

Costume designer

Bernadette Villard

Tenor

Alessandro Giangrande

Echo

Singer

Gabriel Diaz

Fourth spirit

Víctor Sordo

Second spirit

First spirit

Soprano

Sara Mingardo

The messenger

Lise Viricel

The nymph

Bass

Salvo Vitale

Caronte

Pluto

Furio Zanasi

Apollo

Marianne Beate Kielland

Hope

Proserpina

Luciana Mancini

Music

Marc Mauillon

Orfeo

Euridice

Lighting designer

Pascal Noël

Set designer

Emmanuel Clolus

Stage director

Pauline Bayle

Conductor

Jordi Savall

Baritone

Third shepherd

Second shepherd

First shepherd

Assistant Stage Director

Céline Gaudier

Yannis François

Fourth shepherd

Third spirit

Xavier Perez

Danseur

Opéra Grand Avignon

Opéra Royal de Versailles

Others

La Capella Reial de Catalunya

Orchestra

Le Concert des Nations

Opéra Comique

Italian

L'Orfeo -  (Orfeo)

Paris

France

Opéra-Comique

Rediscover the epic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice in Monteverdi's ageless L'Orfeo—the oldest opera still performed today! In a stark and refined mise en scène, featuring gorgeous costumes by Bernadette Villard and striking lighting design by Pascal Noël, the excellent soloists more than do justice to this monument of the operatic repertoire—under the direction of the great Jordi Savall, who has done more to popularize early music and the work of Monteverdi than perhaps anyone else alive.

Over the course of this enchanting drama, it is La Musique herself who first greets the public (the marvelous Luciana Mancini, who also plays the role of Eurydice). The plot follows its irrevocable course: soon after marrying Orpheus (the celebrated Marc Mauillon), the beautiful dryad Eurydice falls victim to a fatal snake bite. Despair overwhelms Orpheus's fellow shepherds, but he refuses to abandon hope, and—guided by Espérance (Hope)—takes up the route toward Hell in search of his betrothed. Pluto, god of the underworld, agrees to allow her to ascend back to the mortal plane—under one condition: on their journey back, Orpheus must not look back at Eurydice. Tragically, he yields to the temptation to turn around, and Eurydice is lost forever to the underworld. Orpheus, devastated, is comforted by Apollo, god of the arts, leaving us with a clear message: in difficult times, art and hope are steadfast allies that one must always keep close.

The decision to produce this opera in June 2021 was not without significance for the opera stage and the performers. In the words of Agnès Terrier, dramaturge at the Opéra-Comique, "After 15 months of pandemic hell, with all our artists guided by La Musica, let us bring light back into the theatre!"

The Orfeo
'Favola in musica' in a prologue and five acts by Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643)
Libretto by Alessandro Striggio
Premiere in Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, 24 February 1607

Recording: June 10, 2021 - Opéra Comique | Paris
Directed by: François Roussillon
Duration: 01:58

L'Orfeo Monteverdi

Public

French

English

Approved

Résumé :Pour retrouver Eurydice, disparue le jour de leurs noces, le chanteur Orphée part séduire les Enfers de son art divin. Ce sont ses plaintes qui conva...

It is exceptional to be able to date the birth of an art. This is however the case for opera. On February 24, 1607 in Mantua, the creation of L'Orfeo by Striggio and Monteverdi gave an unprecedented form to the encounter between theater and music. The new expressiveness of the recitar cantando was combined there with the varied forms of the court spectacle, in an equal mastery of the whole and of the detail.

The work was both a synthesis and a prototype. Its success led to other performances, its distribution, other commissions... Three decades later, in Venice, Monteverdi presided over the advent of opera, which had become an economic and cultural phenomenon. The character of Orpheus illustrates this transition. After Alcione in 2017, we find Jordi Savall and go back to the sources with the Concert des Nations. Around Marc Mauillon, Pauline Bayle revives this inaugural, interior and universal drama.

Il est exceptionnel de pouvoir dater la naissance d’un art. C’est pourtant le cas pour l’opéra. Le 24 février 1607 à Mantoue, la création de L’Orfeo de Striggio et Monteverdi donnait une forme inédite à la rencontre du théâtre et de la musique. L’expressivité nouvelle du recitar cantando s’y combinait avec les formes variées du spectacle de cour, dans une égale maîtrise de l’ensemble et du détail.

L’œuvre était à la fois une synthèse et un prototype. Son succès entraîna d’autres représentations, sa diffusion, d’autres commandes... Trois décennies plus tard, à Venise, Monteverdi présidait à l’avènement de l’opéra, devenu phénomène économique et culturel. Le personnage d’Orphée illustre cette transition. Après Alcione en 2017, nous retrouvons Jordi Savall et remontons aux sources avec le Concert des Nations. Autour de Marc Mauillon, Pauline Bayle fait revivre ce drame inaugural, intérieur et universel.

français

Orfeo by Monteverdi, From (2021/2021), Directed by Pauline Bayle,, Conductor Jordi Savall, Opéra-Comique, Paris, France

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Co-Producer

Programme, About & Synopsis

Videos

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues