Orpheus and Eurydice
Theatrical Action for Music (1762, 1769)
Music by Christoph Willibald Gluck
Text by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi

Language: Performed in Italian with German and English surtitles

Few operas have influenced the development of the genre as profoundly as Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Premiered in Vienna in 1762, the work brought together the many operatic reform ideas of its time in an exemplary way. Gluck’s Azione teatrale, which places the natural and authentic expression of its characters at the center of the drama, challenged and ultimately transcended the conventions of traditional opera seria.

The myth of Orpheus, which gave rise to the very form of opera and remains one of the most enduring subjects in musical theater, found an entirely new expression in Gluck’s hands. His setting of the story of Orpheus, who enchants the gods of the Underworld with his song in order to bring his beloved Eurydice back to life, possesses a dramatic truthfulness previously unknown in opera, inviting audiences to share deeply in the emotional world of its protagonists.

Plot

Act one

At the grave of Eurydice, Orpheus mourns the death of his beloved wife, while a group of mourners enacts the funeral rite. In despair, he turns to the gods and demands that they return Eurydice to him. Amor appears as Jupiter’s messenger and reports to Orpheus that he can bring Eurydice back from the underworld, but only if he refrains from looking at his beloved until they have left the world of darkness. Orpheus accepts this condition, although he doubts that Eurydice will understand his behavior.

Act two

Before the gate to Hades, the ghastly Furies block Orpheus’ way to the underworld. But he succeeds in placating the hellish figures with his song, so that they allow him to pass to Elysium. When he arrives, Orpheus extols the beauty of Elysium in song, but his thoughts are focused on the search for Eurydice. He finds his loved one and is determined to lead her from the underworld following the instructions of Jupiter and Amor.

Act three

Orpheus asks the incredulous Eurydice to follow his instructions without question and to leave the underworld with him. But soon she complains about the lacking affection of her husband and demands that he looks at her. Orpheus refuses to look and tries to resist Eurydice’s complaints. Disappointed that Orpheus is keeping a secret from her, she threatens rather to die than to live with him unloved. At that, Orpheus’ resistance crumbles and Eurydice dies a second time. Unable to fathom the renewed loss of Eurydice, Orpheus decides to end his life. Then Amor appears and calls Eurydice back to life as a reward for Orpheus’ fidelity.

Guest performance by the Opéra de Monte-Carlo