L'Orfeo
Favola in musica
Opera in five acts
Librettist: Alessandro Strigio
Premiere: Mantua, February 24, 1607
Cast:
Orfeo (Orpheus)
Euridice
Plutone (Pluto)
Proserpina
Caronte (Charon)
Apollo
La Musica (prologue only)
Messagiera (Messenger)
La Speranza (Hope)
Pastori 1 & 2 (Shepherds)
Spiriti 1 & 2 (Spirits)
Ninfa (Nymph)
Eco (Echo)
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
Only three of Monteverdi's many operas have come down to us: his very first opera L'Orfeo, which was written for a ducal court, and two operas from near the end of his life, Il ritorno d'Ulisse and Il coronazione di Poppea, which were written for the more popular tastes of the new public theaters in Venice. There is thus a gap of over thirty years and quite a difference in style between L'Orfeo and the other two. L'Orfeo, written within a decade of the very beginning of the history of opera, is generally considered the first great masterpiece of the genre. Together with the Vespers of 1610, it is one of the monumental achievements of Monteverdi's years in Mantua.
Its premiere took place at the ducal palace in Mantua on February 24, 1607. Interestingly, descriptions of the first performance do not mention anything about a staging, aside from the fact that the scene changes twice. The score itself does mention that Apollo descends from a cloud, but the relatively small room in which it was first heard could well have limited any staging or special effects to what we might today call a semi-staged performance.
However, it was not the staging or even Alessandro Striggio's fine libretto, but Monteverdi's extraordinary dramatic and musical gifts that made this a work of revolutionary genius. There was simply no precedent for much of what he accomplished in this opera. Earlier operas that have come down to us, beginning with Peri's Euridice in 1600, were musically much more limited. Believing that ancient Greek drama had originally been sung throughout and that it could now be recreated, the earliest opera composers restricted their dramas almost entirely to imitating speech through recitative. It was a historical performance movement based on a major misconception about Greek drama, but it bore the seeds of astonishing development.
With L'Orfeo, Monteverdi changed the field forever. Here he mixes recitatives with forms from other genres-- instrumental ritornelli, choruses and occasional arias and dances-- and he organizes the acts of the drama into larger musical structures by bringing back music heard earlier in a scene. The musical architecture is extremely sophisticated and effective, even from our perspective over 400 years later, but he goes beyond simply organizing the structure of the opera. In an almost Wagnerian sense, he builds an association of certain music with certain ideas, as, for example, when he reminds us of the power of music just before Orpheus enters the Underworld at the end of Act II by repeating music from the prologue, or when he conjures up memories of both the upper world and the Underworld in Act V by recalling music from previous acts.
Monteverdi is well known as a master of expressing the details of a text through music, but he also, possibly for the first time, depicts a character's physical actions through music. When Orpheus is leading Eurydice out of Hades, there is a regular forward-moving pulse in the bass line, a "walking bass," which suddenly comes to an end when he stops walking and expresses his doubts. Monteverdi also creates the magical aura which Orpheus casts on the Underworld with the extraordinary elaborate ornamentation of the aria Possente spirto. It is a sublime moment that goes far beyond a normal setting of the text.
At its premiere, L'Orfeo followed the version of the myth that ends with an orgiastic scene, in which the hero is killed by Bacchic revelers. For that ending, only the words have survived. What has come down to us in the published scores reflects the more genteel ending of Monteverdi's later productions: Apollo takes Orpheus up into the heavens. However, it may be that the wild Moresca, the dance which ends the opera, is a remnant of the original ending.
Instrumentation
With the resources of the ducal court at his disposal, Monteverdi calls for a much larger and more colorful orchestra than was available for his late operas. But it is a conservative choice, since it is essentially a large Renaissance ensemble: strings and recorders, with cornetti and sackbuts to provide music for the infernal scenes. It also includes the harmony instruments of the continuo section: harpsichords, organ, theorbos and harp. Trumpets are called for only in the opening toccata, music which Monteverdi recycled a few years later for the opening of his Vespers.
We fortunately have much more information about when all these instruments are to play than we do for Monteverdi's later operas, because the work has come down to us in two published editions from 1609 and 1615. Unlike the sketchy manuscripts of the later operas, these printed editions contain all the notes that are to be performed (aside from the improvisations of the continuo section).
Nonetheless, there are many decisions still left to the performer. Most of the ritornelli, choruses and recitatives say nothing about what instruments are to play the notes that are printed. The score does include a list of instruments and occasionally even specifies instruments that play certain passages, but it is inconsistent. The instruments called for in the music are not always the same as those in the orchestra list. To complicate matters further, a number of instructions in the score tell us in the past tense that certain instruments "played" a certain passage. Whether these are simply descriptive of an early production or are meant to be prescriptive for all future performances is something that each performer must decide. Nonetheless, there is valuable information here that must be followed. When the music calls for a solo organ using wood pipes to accompany Orpheus in a quiet passage, or when cornetti and sackbuts create the atmosphere of the Underworld, Monteverdi is calling for a precise palette of instrumental colors that adds another layer of meaning to the text and the notes.
Orpheus, the magician
Some scholars have wondered whether the character of Orpheus might not be based on a real historical person from the distant past, such as Pythagoras or others whose legends inspired similar cults and mystical writings. The legends of Orpheus might reflect a type of ancient shamanism, which was practiced in the region of Thrace, where Orpheus is said to have come from. In this case, it would have been based on an extremely powerful shaman who claimed to have magical powers not only in the natural world but also over death itself.
In the centuries immediately before Monteverdi's opera, the legend of Orpheus held great interest for many occult philosophers and mystics. The great philosopher Ficino even attempted to recreate the hymns that Orpheus sang, in order to practice a magical control over the physical world. But such pursuits could be dangerous. By the time of L'Orfeo, hysterical witch hunts were breaking out periodically in various parts of Europe, while brave writers would sometimes point to Orpheus, along with Pythagoras, Zoroaster and even Socrates to show that there could be good or "white" magic. In the same decade as Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, Shakespeare was dealing with contemporary concerns about white magic --as well as darker magic -- in several plays, including The Winter's Tale, The Tempest and Macbeth.
The "power of music" described in this opera is thus more than the power to play on our emotions. For some, it would also have been a magical power and one that could potentially be dangerous. In this light, Orpheus's mesmerizing third-act aria Possente spirto, in which he attempts to charm Charon, is a magical incantation. Would some of the original listeners have seen this as an attempt, like Ficino's, to recreate, rather than merely depict an Orphic hymn? In any case, it is an extraordinary moment in music history: one of the greatest composers who ever lived is inventing a new type of music drama and undertakes to write the very song with which Orpheus casts his most powerful spell on the Underworld -- and on us.
Synopsis
Prologue
La Musica, the allegorical representation of Music, introduces herself to the audience and announces a drama that will prove her powers.
Act I
Shepherds and nymphs celebrate the marriage of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus sings a hymn to the sun, and the company offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods.
Act II
Orpheus celebrates his return to his homeland, but the festivities are interrupted by a messenger, who tells them of Eurydice's sudden death from the bite of a serpent. Their joy turns to lamentation, but Orpheus refuses to accept Eurydice's death and resolves to go down into the Underworld and convince Pluto to return his bride.
Act III
Speranze (Hope) leads Orpheus to the gates of the Underworld, but there she must leave him, because over the gates are the famous words, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter." Charon, the boatman, refuses to ferry Orpheus across the river Styx, because no living person is allowed into the realm of Hades. But Orpheus sings his aria Possente spirto, which, while it fails to change Charon's mind, does charm him to sleep. Orpheus steps into the boat and ferries himself across the river.
Act IV
Proserpina has heard and been moved by the song of Orpheus and begs her husband Pluto to restore Eurydice to life. Pluto gives in and allows Eurydice to leave -- on the one condition that Orpheus not look at her, until they have left his kingdom. The lovers begin their journey back, but Orpheus begins to doubt that Eurydice is still following him and turns to look. At that moment, she vanishes forever, bidding him farewell.
Act V
Back in the land of the living, Orpheus mourns his loss, but only Echo answers him. His father Apollo now appears to him, asks him to renounce earthly cares, and takes him up into the heavens. Nymphs and shepherds sing and dance at his apotheosis.
Boston Baroque Performances
L’Orfeo
October 26 & 27, 2001
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloists:
Lynton Atkinson - Orfeo
Sharon Baker - Euridice & La Musica
Dean Ely - Caronte
David Ripley - Plutone
Amanda Forsythe - Proserpina & Ninfa
Sandra Piques Eddy - Messagiera & La Speranza
Glenn Siebert - Apollo & Shepherd
David McSweeney
Henry Lussier
Amy Schneider
Brett Johnson