Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Ensemble and Choir of Zürich perform Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (SV 318), sometimes called La favola d’Orfeo, a late Renaissance/early Baroque favola in music, or opera, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. Filmed in 1978. Director: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.
The work is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus and tells the story of his descent to Hades and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride Eurydice back to the living world. It was written in 1607 for a court performance during the annual Carnival at Mantua (a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name).
Soloists
- Orfeo (Orpheus): Philippe Huttenlocher (baritone)
- Euridice (Eurydice): Dietlinde Turban (soprano)
- La musica (Music) & La Speranza (Hope): Trudeliese Schmidt (soprano)
- Apollo: Roland Hermann (tenor)
- Proserpina (Proserpine) & La Messaggera (The Messenger): Glenys Linos (soprano)
- Plutone (Pluto): Werner Gröschel (bass)
- Caronte (Charon): Hans Franzen (bass)
- Ninfa (Nymph): Suzanne Calabro (soprano)
Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
L’Orfeo (SV 318), also known as La favola d’Orfeo, is a landmark in the history of opera, composed by Claudio Monteverdi with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. Premiering in 1607 during the annual Carnival at Mantua, this opera represents a pivotal moment in the evolution from Renaissance musical drama to Baroque opera. Based on the Greek myth of Orpheus, L’Orfeo recounts the story of Orpheus’s descent into Hades and his ill-fated attempt to retrieve his bride, Eurydice, from the underworld. Though earlier works such as Jacopo Peri’s Dafne and Euridice laid the groundwork for the opera genre, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo is the earliest opera still regularly performed, largely due to its innovative and fully developed integration of music and drama.
Historical Context
By the early 17th century, the traditional intermedio -musical interludes between acts of a play- was evolving into a complete form of musical drama. L’Orfeo marks a transition from experimental works to a more structured opera genre. Monteverdi’s employment at the Mantuan court under Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga provided the perfect environment for such groundbreaking work. Gonzaga’s enthusiasm for musical theatre, influenced by the Florentine experiments of Jacopo Peri and others, spurred Monteverdi to create an opera that fused Renaissance musical forms with the emerging Baroque style. L’Orfeo was performed initially at the court of Mantua and likely elsewhere before falling into obscurity for centuries. Its revival in the late 19th century, followed by modern staged performances, cemented its status as a foundational work in the opera canon.
Creation and Composition
Libretto by Alessandro Striggio
The libretto for L’Orfeo was crafted by Alessandro Striggio, a member of the Mantuan court and a talented musician. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Virgil’s Georgics, Striggio adapted these classical texts into a dramatic narrative suitable for a staged musical performance. The myth’s tragic elements, including Orpheus’s failure and subsequent demise, were initially softened for dramatic effect, although Monteverdi later revised the ending, with Apollo intervening to elevate Orpheus to the heavens. This thematic resolution highlights the tension between human frailty and divine intervention, a hallmark of Baroque opera.
Monteverdi’s Musical Innovations
Monteverdi, a seasoned court musician, drew upon his extensive experience to compose a score that synthesized existing musical forms into a cohesive and innovative opera. The work integrates arias, strophic songs, recitatives, choruses, and instrumental interludes, creating a rich tapestry of sound. Monteverdi’s daring use of polyphony and his incorporation of the full spectrum of Renaissance musical resources established L’Orfeo as a pioneering work in the operatic tradition.
The orchestration of L’Orfeo is particularly notable for its variety and specificity. Monteverdi lists around 41 instruments in the score, using distinct groups to represent different settings and characters. For instance, strings, harpsichords, and recorders evoke the pastoral world of Thrace, while heavy brass instruments such as trombones and cornetts depict the ominous underworld. This deliberate use of instrumentation to enhance the dramatic narrative was a significant departure from the less defined orchestration of earlier musical dramas.
Performance History and Legacy
L’Orfeo debuted in Mantua in 1607, followed by additional performances in other Italian cities. However, after Monteverdi’s death in 1643, the opera fell into neglect until the late 19th century when a revival of interest in early music led to new editions and performances. The first modern staged production occurred in Paris in 1911, and the opera gradually found its way into the standard repertoire of opera houses. Despite initial resistance from some leading venues, L’Orfeo has since been celebrated worldwide, particularly during its quatercentenary in 2007.
The opera’s revival owes much to the work of musicologists and conductors who recognized its historical and musical significance. Modern performances, often staged with period instruments and historically informed practices, have brought Monteverdi’s masterpiece to contemporary audiences, allowing its innovative blend of drama and music to be fully appreciated.
Orchestration and Instrumentation
Monteverdi’s instrumentation for L’Orfeo was revolutionary for its time, reflecting the transition from Renaissance to Baroque musical aesthetics. The score features a diverse array of instruments, divided into strings, brass, and continuo sections, with additional instruments such as recorders and possibly citterns. The pastoral scenes in Thrace are accompanied by softer instruments like strings and recorders, while the underworld is characterized by the darker tones of brass and the regal, a small reed organ associated with Hades.
Monteverdi allowed for a degree of improvisation by the instrumentalists, a common practice in the Renaissance. This flexibility enabled performers to adapt the music to their specific contexts, enriching the opera’s texture and ensuring its vitality in performance. Monteverdi’s detailed instructions on ornamentation and instrumental color demonstrate his meticulous approach to achieving a dramatic unity between music and narrative.
Characters and Roles
The cast of L’Orfeo includes a range of characters, from the titular Orpheus to mythological figures like Apollo and the Messenger. The original performers at the Mantuan premiere included notable singers such as Francesco Rasi, who likely played Orpheus, and Giovanni Gualberto Magli, a Florentine castrato who performed multiple roles. The opera’s choruses, composed of shepherds and spirits, add a communal dimension to the drama, enhancing the contrast between the earthly and the divine.
Monteverdi’s handling of the vocal lines is masterful, with each character’s music reflecting their emotional and narrative function. Orpheus’s arias, for example, range from the exuberant to the deeply mournful, capturing his journey from joy to despair. The use of choral sections at the end of each act reinforces the moral and philosophical themes of the opera, providing both commentary and resolution.
L’Orfeo stands as a monumental achievement in the history of opera, marking the genre’s transition from its experimental beginnings to a fully developed art form. Monteverdi’s innovative use of orchestration, his blending of musical forms, and his dramatic sensibility combined to create a work of enduring beauty and significance. The opera not only exemplifies the early Baroque style but also laid the foundation for future developments in operatic composition and performance.
Today, L’Orfeo is celebrated not only for its historical importance but also for its timeless emotional depth and musical sophistication. Its ability to convey profound human experiences through the synthesis of music and drama ensures its place as a cornerstone of the operatic repertoire.
Synopsis of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
The action takes place in two contrasting locations: the fields of Thrace (Acts 1, 2, and 5) and the Underworld (Acts 3 and 4). An instrumental toccata (English: “tucket”, meaning a flourish on trumpets) precedes the entrance of La musica, representing the “spirit of music”, who sings a prologue of five stanzas of verse. After a gracious welcome to the audience, she announces that she can, through sweet sounds, “calm every troubled heart.” She sings a further paean to the power of music, before introducing the drama’s main protagonist, Orfeo, who “held the wild beasts spellbound with his song”.
Act 1
After La musica’s final request for silence, the curtain rises in Act 1 to reveal a pastoral scene. Orfeo and Euridice enter together with a chorus of nymphs and shepherds, who act in the manner of a Greek chorus, commenting on the action both as a group and as individuals.
A shepherd announces that this is the couple’s wedding day; the chorus responds, first in a stately invocation (“Come, Hymen, O come”) and then in a joyful dance (“Leave the mountains, leave the fountains”). Orfeo and Euridice sing of their love for each other before leaving with most of the group for the wedding ceremony in the temple. Those left on stage sing a brief chorus, commenting on how Orfeo used to be one “for whom sighs were food and weeping was drinking” before love brought him to a state of sublime happiness.
Act 2
Orfeo returns with the main chorus and sings with them of the beauties of nature. Orfeo then muses on his former unhappiness, but proclaims: “After grief one is more content, after pain one is happier”. The mood of contentment is abruptly ended when La messaggera enters, bringing the news that, while gathering flowers, Euridice has received a fatal snakebite.
The chorus expresses its anguish: “Ah, bitter happening, ah, impious and cruel fate!”, while the Messaggera castigates herself as the bearing of bad tidings (“Forever I will flee, and in a lonely cavern lead a life in keeping with my sorrow”). Orfeo, after venting his grief and incredulity (“Thou art dead, my life, and I am breathing?”), declares his intention to descend into the Underworld and persuade its ruler to allow Euridice to return to life. Otherwise, he says, “I shall remain with thee in the company of death”. He departs, and the chorus resumes its lament.
Act 3
Orfeo is guided by Speranza to the gates of Hades. Having pointed out the words inscribed on the gate (“Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”), Speranza leaves. Orfeo is now confronted with the ferryman Caronte, who addresses Orfeo harshly and refuses to take him across the river Styx.
Orfeo attempts to persuade Caronte by singing a flattering song to him (“Mighty spirit and powerful divinity”), but the ferryman is unmoved. However, when Orfeo takes up his lyre and plays, Caronte is soothed into sleep. Seizing his chance, Orfeo steals the ferryman’s boat and crosses the river, entering the Underworld while a chorus of spirits reflects that nature cannot defend herself against man: “He has tamed the sea with fragile wood, and disdained the rage of the winds.”
Act 4
In the Underworld, Proserpina, Queen of Hades, who has been deeply affected by Orfeo’s singing, petitions King Plutone, her husband, for Euridice’s release. Moved by her pleas, Plutone agrees on the condition that, as he leads Euridice towards the world, Orfeo must not look back. If he does, “a single glance will condemn him to eternal loss”. Orfeo enters, leading Euridice and singing confidently that on that day he will rest on his wife’s white bosom.
But as he sings a note of doubt creeps in: “Who will assure me that she is following?”. Perhaps, he thinks, Plutone, driven by envy, has imposed the condition through spite. Suddenly distracted by an off-stage commotion, Orfeo looks around; immediately, the image of Euridice begins to fade. She sings, despairingly: “Losest thou me through too much love?” and disappears. Orfeo attempts to follow her but is drawn away by an unseen force. The chorus of spirits sings that Orfeo, having overcome Hades, was in turn overcome by his passions.
Act 5
Back in the fields of Thrace, Orfeo has a long soliloquy in which he laments his loss, praises Euridice’s beauty, and resolves that his heart will never again be pierced by Cupid’s arrow. An off-stage echo repeats his final phrases. Suddenly, in a cloud, Apollo descends from the heavens and chastises him: “Why dost thou give thyself up as prey to rage and grief?”
He invites Orfeo to leave the world and join him in the heavens, where he will recognize Euridice’s likeness in the stars. Orfeo replies that it would be unworthy not to follow the counsel of such a wise father, and together they ascend. A shepherd’s chorus concludes that “he who sows in suffering shall reap the fruit of every grace” before the opera ends with a vigorous mores.
Sources
- L’Orfeo on Wikipedia
- L’Orfeo on Operas-Arias website
- L’Orfeo, SV 318 (Monteverdi, Claudio) on the International Music Score Library website
- Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo on the Lumen Learning website
- “The Root Of All Opera: Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo” on the NPR website
- “Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo” on the Libre Texts Humanities website
- “L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi” on The Kennedy Center website
- “Claudio Monteverdi: L’Orfeo” on the Boston Baroque Orchestra’s website
- “L’Orfeo” on the Opernhaus Zürich website
- “Monteverdi: L’Orfeo” on the College Side Kick website
