' (''The Death of Orpheus'') is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in five acts by the Italian composer Stefano Landi. Dedicated to Alessandro Mattei, ''familiaris'' of Pope

Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

, it may have been first performed in Rome in 1619. The work is styled a ''tragicomedia pastorale'' (pastoral tragicomedy). The

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

, which may be by the composer himself, is in part inspired by ''La favola d'Orfeo'' (1484) by Angelo Poliziano. Unlike Monteverdi's ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 318) (), or ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance music, Renaissance/early Baroque music, Baroque ''favola in musica'', or List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a li ...

'' and the earliest Florentine operas on the subject ('' Euridice'' by Peri and Caccini), Landi's opera contains comic elements and deals with a different episode from the life of the mythical singer.

Roles

Synopsis

After Orpheus has failed to save his wife Eurydice from the underworld, he renounces wine and the love of women. This offends the god Bacchus who urges his female followers, the

Maenad In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the '' thiasus''. Their name, which comes from μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to rave, to be mad; to rage, to be angr ...

s, to kill Orpheus. The enraged Maenads tear him apart. The gods want the dead Orpheus to join them on Olympus but Orpheus wants to be reunited with Eurydice in

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

. Only after the god Mercury shows him that, having drunk the waters of Lethe, Eurydice no longer remembers her husband, does Orpheus agree to ascend to Olympus.

Recordings

Audio

*1987: ''La morte d'Orfeo'', John Elwes, Koslowski, Cordier, Harry van der Kamp, Tragicomedia, conducted by Stephen Stubbs (Accent, 1987; Musical Heritage Society, 1989; Pan classics 2016) *2007: ''La morte d'Orfeo'', Cyril Auvity, Guillemette Laurens, Dominique Visse, van Elsacker, Guillon, Bucher, Akadêmia, conducted by Françoise Lasserre (Zig Zag Territoires, 2007)

Video

*2018: ''La morte d'Orfeo'', Cecilia Molinari, Renato Dolcini, Alexander Miminoshvili, Gaia Petrone, Juan Francisco Gatell, Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

Cat:NBD0111V. Released 2020.

References

Sources

*''The Viking Opera Guide'' ed.

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English media personality, actress and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent competition show '' Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the national ''H ...

(Viking, 1993)
Del Teatro (in Italian)Le magazine de l'opera baroque by Jean-Claude Brenac (in French)
*''The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera'' ed. Parker (OUP, 1994)

External links

at Opéra Baroque website
Libretto in Italian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morte d'Orfeo, La Italian-language operas Operas by Stefano Landi 1619 operas Operas Operas about Orpheus