From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orpheus Playing the Violin , 17th-century painting by
Cesare Gennari
Operas based on the
Orphean myths, and especially the story of Orpheus' journey to the underworld to rescue his wife,
Eurydice , were amongst the earliest examples of the art form and continue to be written into the 21st century. Orpheus, the
Greek hero whose songs could charm both gods and wild beasts and coax the trees and rocks into dance, has achieved an emblematic status as a metaphor for the power of music.
[1] The following is an annotated list of operas (and works in related genres) based on his myth. The works are listed with their composers and arranged by date of first performance. In cases where the opera was never performed, the approximate date of composition is given.
17th century
18th century
19th century
1802 – Carl Conrad Cannabich – Orpheus
1807 –
Friedrich August Kanne – Orpheus
1813 –
Ferdinand Kauer – Orpheus und Euridice, oder So geht es im Olympus zu
1814 – Marchese Francesco Sampieri – Orfeo (cantata?)
1858 –
Jacques Offenbach –
Orphée aux enfers
1860 – Gustav Michaelis – Orpheus auf der Oberwelt
1867 – Karl Ferdinand Konradin – Orpheus im Dorfe (operetta)
20th century
1907 – Fernando de Azevedo e Silva – A morte de Orfeu
1907–16 –
Claude Debussy – (unfinished project)
1913 –
Jean Roger-Ducasse – Orphée , premiered at the
Palais Garnier in a production mounted by
Ida Rubinstein .
1925 –
Gian Francesco Malipiero –
L'Orfeide , cycle in three parts: I. La morte delle maschere , II. Sette canzoni , III. Orfeo
1925 –
Darius Milhaud – Les malheurs d'Orphée ,
chamber opera with a libretto by
Armand Lunel
1926 –
Ernst Krenek –
Orpheus und Eurydike
1932 –
Alfredo Casella – La favola d'Orfeo , chamber opera after
Poliziano 's L'Orfeo
[5]
1951 –
Pierre Schaeffer – Orphée 51
1953 –
Pierre Schaeffer ,
Pierre Henry – Orphée 53
1978 –
Tito Schipa Jr. – Orfeo 9 , the first Italian rock opera
1978 –
Hans Werner Henze – Orpheus (Viennese version 1986)
1986 –
Harrison Birtwistle –
The Mask of Orpheus
1993 –
Philip Glass –
Orphée , chamber opera with a libretto adapted by the composer from
Jean Cocteau 's
film of the same name
1996 –
Lorenzo Ferrero – La nascita di Orfeo , musical action in one act, libretto by Lorenzo Ferrero and Dario Del Corno, premiered at the
Teatro Filarmonico
21st century
2001 –
Jonathan Dove – L'altra Euridice , a 30-minute opera in one act for baritone and ensemble, based on a story by
Italo Calvino , which retells the Orphean myth from the perspective of
Pluto , god of the underworld.
[6]
2009 –
Harrison Birtwistle –
The Corridor , a 48-minute
chamber opera for two singers and small ensemble.
2014 –
Christina Pluhar – Orfeo Chamán , a neo-Baroque operatic adaption of the Orpheus myth, featuring styles from Mexico, Venezuela and Bulgaria.
2015 –
John Robertson – Orpheus , an hour-long
masque in six scenes commissioned and performed by
Rousse State Opera
[7]
2020 –
Matthew Aucoin –
Eurydice , a three-act opera in English with libretto by
Sarah Ruhl based on her
play of the same name, premiered at the
Los Angeles Opera
[8]
2022 -
Jasdeep Singh Degun - Orpheus: Music by
Claudio Monteverdi and
Jasdeep Singh Degun
[9] , composed for 9 western classical voices, 9 Indian classical voices,
baroque ensemble and
Indian classical ensemble, commissioned by
Opera North and SAA-uk.
References
Orpheus by
Odilon Redon (1840–1916)
Notes
Sources
Agnew, Vanessa,
Enlightenment Orpheus: The Power of Music in Other Worlds , Oxford University Press, 2008,
ISBN
978-0-19-533666-5 .
Rosand, Ellen , "Opera: III. Early opera, 1600–90", Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy (accessed via subscription 27 April 2010)
Spencer, Neil,
"Anais Mitchell: Hadestown" ,
The Observer , 25 April 2010 (accessed 27 April 2010)
Sternfeld, Frederick W., "Orpheus", Grove Music Online , ed. L. Macy (accessed via subscription 15 August 2007)
Whenham, John ,
Claudio Monteverdi, Orfeo , Cambridge University Press, 1986.
ISBN
0-521-28477-5
External links
History and national traditions Opera components Types of opera
Voice types Participants Role types Singing concepts and techniques
List articles Miscellaneous
Characters
Orphean operas
Euridice (1600, Peri)
Euridice (1602, Caccini)
L'Orfeo (1607, Monteverdi)
Orfeo dolente (1616, Belli)
La morte d'Orfeo (1619, Landi)f
Orfeo (1647, Rossi)
Orfeo (1672, Sartorio)
La descente d'Orphée aux enfers (c. 1686, Charpentier)
Orpheus (1726, Telemann)
Orfeo ed Euridice (1762, Gluck)
L'anima del filosofo (1791, Haydn)
Orpheus in the Underworld (1858, Offenbach)
Orpheus und Eurydike (1921, Krenek)
L'Orfeide (1925, Malipiero)
Orpheus and Eurydice (1975, Zhurbin, rock opera)
The Mask of Orpheus (1986, Birtwistle)
The Second Mrs Kong (1994, Birtwistle)
The Corridor (2009, Birtwistle)
Eurydice (2020, Aucoin)
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