Orfeo by Monteverdi, Dv. 01 Des. 1978, De (1978/1978), Dirigit per Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Director musical Nicholas Harnoncourt, Opernhaus, Zurich, Switzerland

A film of Monterverdi's masterpiece in the acclaimed Zurich staging of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, conducted in 1978 by the great Nikolaus Harnoncourt Arcadian landscape. Shepherds and nymphs greet the day. Orpheus and Eurydice, happy in their love, join in the song. The shepherds and nymphs listen to the song of Orpheus, which tells of the fulfillment of his love. But a messenger reports a serious fate to the singer: death snatched his beloved from him. In the underworld, moved by the missing songs of Orpheus, the death guard opens the gate to the underworld and Eurydice is allowed to follow her husband if he finds the way to the land of light. However, if he looks around for his beloved, she has to go back into the shadows. The two are already approaching the sunlight when Orpheus, tormented by doubts, stops on the threshold of the underworld. Anxious, he turns to Eurydice, who is now forever banished to the realm of silence. Orpheus stays behind in despair.