Hardly any other myth is as closely associated with the history of music theatre as that of the singer Orpheus. Of the many works on this subject, some which stand out are available from Bärenreiter · Alkor.

Orpheus understood how to soothe wild animals with his singing, and ventured to descend into the underworld in order to bring back his beloved Euridice. But because he ignored the conditions imposed upon him, he did not succeed in overcoming death. In the many settings of the subject, the focus of the scenes and content has repeatedly shifted: sometimes it is the singer himself, sometimes his enchanting singing which soothes the gods of the underworld, sometimes it is his too great love, his longing for Euridice which leads him to turn round towards her, but sometimes it is she herself who urges him to do this. The outcome is sometimes tragic, but sometimes deviating from the myth in being happy, according to the performance context.

After Jacopo Peri’s and Giulio Caccini and Ottavio Rinuccini’s “L’Euridice” of 1600, with which the history of opera began, Claudio Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo”, premiered in 1607 in Mantua became a milestone in music theatre. The work begins with an imminent wedding celebration, which cannot take place because of the terrible news of the death of the bride. At the gateway to the underworld, Orpheus turns to Pluto, the ruler of the underworld, but also moves his wife Proserpina with his singing. She pleads his cause that the singer should be released. When Orpheus longingly turns round towards Euridice on the return journey, she realises that he will lose her because his love is too great. The journey to the good ending is arranged differently in the score and libretto: in the score, it is Apollo who, in rapture, gives the protagonist the opportunity of seeing Euridice again in the stars. However, in the libretto Orpheus takes flight and the work ends with a feast of the Bacchantes. The special feature of Monteverdi’s Orfeo is that for the first time, the fable not only tells the tale, but is consciously transformed into drama.

By contrast, in Georg Philip Telemann’s opera “Orpheus oder die wunderbare Beständigkeit der Liebe”, premiered in 1726 in the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg, the celebration of conjugal love is at the centre of a Baroque intrigue. Euridice dies from a snake bite which is brought about by the jealous Thracian Queen Orasia (unknown in the myth). In this work too, Orpheus descends into the underworld and loses Euridice on the return journey. Dancing Furies prevent him from punishment in trying to avert the catastrophe in a second attempt. As in the variant of the myth which dates back to the Roman poet Ovid, Orpheus is finally killed by raging Bacchantes.

Against the background of these musical settings, “Orfeo ed Euridice” by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Ranieri de Calzabigi (Vienna 1762) must appear as an exceptional condensing of the myth. The main characters are limited to Orpheus, Euridice and Amor. They interact with choruses of shepherds and nymphs, Furies, heroes and heroines. However, the undisputed focus of events is Orpheus himself, who is on the stage from beginning to end. The wedding and the sudden occurrence of Euridice’s death are not staged, the plot begins straight away with the mourning hero. The first catastrophe of the myth has therefore already taken place when the curtain is raised. Calzabigi uses the topos of the mourning scene, well-known from the tragédie lyrique, in order to produce an effective tableau and to place the protagonists at the centre of events. The chorus surrounding him of the nymphs and shepherds of his retinue has no solo roles, but sings together as one body in the dialogue. The prospect of a return of the deceased Euridice is offered to Orpheus by Amor, who, as a divine messenger, informs him of the associated conditions. The singer descends into the underworld and is received there by a wild, dancing chorus of Furies. He alone conducts the dispute over the return of Euridice – neither Proserpina or Pluto appear.

In Gluck’s work, Furies and demons are employed very deliberately as a corporate antipole to the protagonist, and Orpheus sings no virtuoso aria to soothe them. The accompaniment of a harp, alluding to the cithara given by Apollo, makes clear the “stage song situation”. The effect of the singing is expressed solely through the gradually changing reaction of the chorus. The tragic high point is staged with dramatic effect: Euridice urges Orpheus to look at her. He initially fights against this, but finally glances at her. Euridice dies. Orpheus’ despair culminates in a dramatic recitative and the rondo aria “Che farò senza Euridice”, one of the most popular and at the same time difficult pieces in the work to interpret, because it just does not seem to match the tragedy of the situation. However, Amor has pity and brings Euridice back.

In the first Vienna version of 1762 the title role was sung by an alto, but for a performance in Parma in 1769 Gluck arranged it for soprano. In 1774 he re-arranged the work extensively once again and staged it as “Orphée et Euridice” in French and with a high tenor in the title role in Paris.

Joseph Haydn also tackled the myth, and composed an opera entitled “L’anima del filosofo ossia Orfeo ed Euridice” (libretto: Carlo Francesco Badini). The work remained fragmentary: it was supposed to be performed in 1791 in London, but fell victim to local factions and was never completed. The title role was sung by no lesser than Giacomo David, one of the great tenors of his day, which is why the focus was less on the power of singing than that of the star singer. At his entrance with the aria “Cara speme”, he presented his vocally brilliant visiting card. In Haydn’s setting, the myth again became an idiosyncratic intrigue piece: King Creon has promised his daughter Euridice in marriage to Arrhidaios, but she is in love with the Thracian singer Orpheus. When she strays into an impassable area one day, she is taken prisoner by monsters. Orpheus saves her from this danger and as a reward, is given her as his wife. When Arrhidaios wants to abduct her, she inadvertently steps on a snake and dies from its bite. Accompanied by a guardian spirit, Orpheus reaches the underworld and persuades Pluto to release Euridice again. On the return journey, the catastrophe takes its course again. In his despair about Euridice’s renewed death, Orpheus renounces love and is poisoned by the Bacchantes.

As with other classical myths, there is a great hiatus in the musico-dramatic history of the Orpheus myth in the 19th century. Only in the second half of the century do we again find a work which deals with the fable. Jacques Offenbach’s “Orphée aux enfers” of 1858 is, as a biting social satire, evidence of the degree of familiarity of this myth. It also received the attentions of Hector Berlioz at around the same time and in a totally different way when he created a mixed version from Gluck’s “Orfeo” and “Orphée” for the singer Pauline Viardot-Garcia. Only after 1900 did the Orpheus myth have a clear revival, including works by Darius Milhaud (“Les Malheurs d’Orphée” 1924), Ernst Krenek (“Orpheus und Eurydike” 1923) and Alfredo Casella (“La favola d’Orfeo” 1932). Its fascination endures to this day: Beat Furrer has studied the classical sources of the myth and incorporated these into his compositions “Begehren” and “Orpheus’ Bücher”. Giselher Klebe refrained from using the singing voice in his Orpheus and set the subject matter in “dramatic scenes” for orchestra. Like Klebe, Furrer once more demonstrated that hardly any other myth has opened up so many new facets of musical interpretation, from the beginnings around 1600 to the present day.

Daniel Brandenburg
(from [t]akte 2/2025)
(translation: Elizabeth Robinson)