It was (arguably) the first opera - as we know opera. Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) shifted music drama from 'intermedio' - music between drama pieces to integrated musical drama or "opera". This was a transition from Baroque to Renaissance.
It's all about the exquisite slow, sweet Baroque music, it demands splendid voices from a large cast and ability to carry long passages of recitative without action. You know the story of Orpheus, and the opera follows it faithfully, but not fast. Three very beautiful full productions are available online, all with baroque orchestra.
A very traditional production from Les Arts Florissants (from 2017 at the Théâtre de Caen) with French subtitles is available on YouTube here. Paul Agnew conducts.
Or go to the Teatro La Fenice, in Venice, (June 2017) where it's performed by the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras with the English Baroque Soloists under the enthusiastic baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner: (no subtitles, but yes, you know the story. And the full libretto is here.)
Or at the Zurich Opera House in 1978 - Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting a fully acted, romantically set production with brilliant voices. and yes, English subtitles. We watched this production way back in 2017, when we could meet together - here's our webpage on the opera.
Now - what would happen if the music took over, abandoning to dance and image the stilted stepping through the story, to heaven and hell and back?
'The new production of L’Orfeo by De Nederlandse Reisopera and Opera2Day does just that.
It's described as 'a Gesamtkunstwerk that would have made Wagner’s mouth water. … The performance is compelling, poetic and enchanting and fits in seamlessly with the stylized language with which Monteverdi introduced the opera genre in 1607.’ Read more here, for exploration of the singer/actors and details of the visual and musical innovations.
‘An Orfeo of infinite beauty’ is the conclusion from Bachtrack.
Reviews celebrate the visual and musical ethereal feel of the production, taking the audience into and beyond the opera we now take for granted. Monteverdi’s tentative step from musical interludes to opera has taken another step, to 'total art work' synthesizing music, drama, spectacle.
Opera Vision screens this production (yes, with English subtitles) here. Available till January.
And at the Met, it’s Week 37
– devoted (tongue in cheek) to 'Family Drama'
All these productions have been screened previously during lockdown. Image courtesy of New Scientist's helpful seasonal guide: 'No more drama: The game theory guide to a happy family holiday.'
Dates are ours
Tuesday, November 24
Verdi’s Il Trovatore
Well, he turned out to be the wrong baby. Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Marco Armiliato. From April 30, 2011.
Wednesday, November 25 Nico Muhly’s Marnie
From a psychological thriller film by Alfred Hitchcock; what do you expect? Starring Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, and Christopher Maltman, conducted by Roberto Spano. From November 10, 2018.
Thursday, November 26 Thomas’s Hamlet
His mother married his uncle who had murdered his father - 'Remember me!' Starring Marlis Petersen, Jennifer Larmore, Simon Keenlyside, and James Morris, conducted by Louis Langrée. From March 27, 2010.
Friday, November 27 Strauss’s Elektra
She and her brother will murder her mother because... well it's a long story of family woe. Starring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, and Eric Owens, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. From April 30, 2016.
Saturday, November 28 Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Her brother forced her to marry the wrong man to save the family estate. Starring Natalie Dessay, Joseph Calleja, Ludovic Tézier, and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Patrick Summers. From March 19, 2011.
Sunday, November 29
Wagner’s Die Walküre
Her father fathered countless mortal and godly beings. She's falling in love with her twin. Starring Christine Goerke, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jamie Barton, Stuart Skelton, Greer Grimsley, and Günther Groissböck, conducted by Philippe Jordan. From March 30, 2019.
Monday, November 29 Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
Her father keeps her prisoner because she bore an illegitimate child to a pirate (now the ruler). Starring Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, Vladimir Chernov, and Robert Lloyd, conducted by James Levine. From January 26, 1995.
Lyn: 19 November 2020