For other operas on this subject, see List of Orphean operas.
Orfeo ed Euridice
Opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck
Illustration from the first printed score (1764)
Librettist
Ranieri de' Calzabigi
Language
Italian
Based on
myth of Orpheus
Premiere
5 October 1762 (1762-10-05).
Burgtheater, Vienna
Orfeo ed Euridice ([orˈfɛ.oe.d‿ewˈri.di.t͡ʃe]; French: Orphée et Eurydice; English: Orpheus and Eurydice) is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing.[1] The piece was first performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 5 October 1762, in the presence of Empress Maria Theresa. Orfeo ed Euridice is the first of Gluck's "reform" operas, in which he attempted to replace the abstruse plots and overly complex music of opera seria with a "noble simplicity" in both the music and the drama.[2]
The opera is the most popular of Gluck's works,[2] and was one of the most influential on subsequent German operas. Variations on its plot—the underground rescue mission in which the hero must control, or conceal, his emotions—can be found in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Beethoven's Fidelio, and Wagner's Das Rheingold.
Though originally set to an Italian libretto, Orfeo ed Euridice owes much to the genre of French opera, particularly in its use of accompanied recitative and a general absence of vocal virtuosity. Indeed, twelve years after the 1762 premiere, Gluck re-adapted the opera to suit the tastes of a Parisian audience at the Académie Royale de Musique with a libretto by Pierre-Louis Moline. This reworking was given the title Orphée et Eurydice,[3] and several alterations were made in vocal casting and orchestration to suit French tastes.
^Holden & Blyth 1993, p. 375
^ abHayes 2002
^The original spelling of the French title was Orphée et Euridice, but modern French orthography uses Orphée et Eurydice.
OrfeoedEuridice ([orˈfɛ.o e.d‿ewˈri.di.t͡ʃe]; French: Orphée et Eurydice; English: Orpheus and Eurydice) is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald...
The following discography for Gluck's opera OrfeoedEuridice is mainly based on the research of Giuseppe Rossi, which appeared in the programme notes...
Matthew Aucoin. Euridice (1600), an opera by Jacopo Peri, the first genuine opera whose music survives to this day OrfeoedEuridice, an opera by Christoph...
Marc-Antoine Charpentier OrfeoedEuridice, a 1762 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck L'Orfeide, a 1925 opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero Orfeo Vecchi (1551–1603)...
the third of Gluck's so-called reform operas for Vienna, following OrfeoedEuridice and Alceste, and the least often performed of the three. Like its...
campaigning. With a series of radical new works in the 1760s, among them OrfeoedEuridice and Alceste, he broke the stranglehold that Metastasian opera seria...
story is the English translation provided for the ballet in Gluck's OrfeoedEuridice when it was first presented in London. "Walker Brothers Cowboy" "The...
which he wrote 49 in all. His most significant and well-known work is OrfeoedEuridice. Information is from Hayes & et al. 1992 unless otherwise noted. Brown...
Italy before becoming a film actress. She appeared in 2015 as Orfeo in Gluck's OrfeoedEuridice in Sydney, and as The Queen in Lindy Hume's production of...
singer. She appeared in only two operatic productions, both of Gluck's OrfeoedEuridice. Later in her career she frequently appeared in recitals together...
Salzburg performance of OrfeoedEuridice, he sang the role of Orfeo on the Philips recording of the opera with Sylvia McNair as Euridice and Sir John Eliot...
Old Met. After being allowed to stage only two dance performances (OrfeoedEuridice) in 1936 and an evening of dances choreographed to the music of Igor...
of Lucretia. A year later she made her first appearance as Orfeo in Gluck's OrfeoedEuridice, a work with which she became particularly associated. By...
for classic mythology and the composer's parody of Gluck's opera OrfeoedEuridice; others praised the piece highly. Orphée aux enfers was Offenbach's...
for singing the role of Orpheus at the premiere of Gluck's opera OrfeoedEuridice in 1762. Born at Lodi, Guadagni joined the cappella of Sant'Antonio...
she sang the part of the god Amor in Mark Morris's production of OrfeoedEuridice. In December 2011, she created the role of Miranda in the Met's baroque...
Christoph Willibald Gluck's OrfeoedEuridice (1762) Joseph Haydn's last opera L'anima del filosofo, ossia OrfeoedEuridice (1791) Franz Liszt's symphonic...
arrived in the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck. Beginning with OrfeoedEuridice (1762), Gluck drastically cut back on the possibilities for vocal...
Ruslan and Lyudmila Christoph Willibald Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride OrfeoedEuridice Alceste Antônio Carlos Gomes: Il Guarany Edvard Grieg: In Autumn George...
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