Orpheus, Monteverdi and the Opera

August 21, 2009 in Baroque by Peter

In the previous article (The First Opera and the Beginning of the Baroque) we saw that the opera Euridice by Jacopo Peri was one of the first opera’s to be written. The story this opera tells is the myth of Opheus and Eurydice. Orpheus descended into the kingdom of the dead to take back his beloved Eurydice. With his singing he mollified the gods of the underworld to such an extent that they could not do anything else than to give Eurydice back to Orpheus. But, there was one condition. During the journey back Orpheus was not allowed to look around to Eurydice. He would lose her for ever if he would do so. Once they were on their way back Orpheus got worried, and when he heard a alarming sound, he got engulfed by doubt. Was there a problem? Had he to go back to solve it? He looked around and lost Eurydice for eternity.

The fact that Orpheus had such an influence on the deities by means of his music, made this myth a recurring theme in the history of classical music. Although Peri’s Eurydice is of earlier date, the opera L’Orpheo by Claudio Monteverdi, is generally considered the first real milestone in the history of opera. L’Orpheo tells the story of Oprheus and Eurydice as well. There are several versions of it. The first, performed in 1607, has a rather inglorious ending. Orpheus was killed by furious Meneads, who hated his music. Since even the rocks they threw at Orpheus refused to hit him because of his beautiful music, the Meneads tore him to pieces. In the version that appeared in print in 1609, Orpheus was luckier. The god Apollo descended from heavens and took Orpeus in a cloud with him into the realm of the gods, from where Orpeus could see Eurydice. There is no clear understanding of the reason for this adaptation. Maybe the version with the happy end was better suited for a larger audience.

Musically Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo shows a considerable variety of musical forms. The opera starts with an instrumental toccata (mp3 – source) played by the orchestra. In the following of the opera the orchestra plays an important role as well. There are many ritornello’s, short instrumental passages: (mp3 – source).
Of course, Orpheus himself has a prominent part. He sings of his love for Eurydice: (mp3 – source). The choir of nymphs and shepherds shares in Orpheus’ joy: (mp3 – source). But then a messenger appears with the bad news of Eurydice’s death: “Your beloved Eurydice, your bride… is dead” (mp3 – source). The air in which Orpheus attempts to gain access to the kingdom of the dead from Charon is one of the most famous passages in the opera: “Possente spirito e formidabil nume…” (mp3 – source).

It is not possible to review the entire opera in this article, but these examples might give you an impression of Monteverdi’s way of composing music to this story. It is highly recommended to take some time to listen or watch this first masterpiece in the history of opera.