Orphée et Eurydice - Christoph Willuck

Thrilling musical drama in French style. The iconic aria J'ai perdu mon Eurydice from Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice is etched in collective memory. After the singer Orpheus has brought his beloved Eurydice back from the underworld through the power of his music, he loses her a second time. In his iron-strong musical drama, the composer proves himself a master of restrained emotion. Gluck bids farewell to the bravura arias and complicated plot twists of Baroque opera. Singing, text and orchestration are entirely in the service of a deeply felt tragedy that is remarkably direct, with only three protagonists (Orphée, Eurydice, Amour) and a dramatically active role for the chorus. Gluck originally wrote the opera in Italian in 1762 and realized a French version for the Paris Opéra in 1774. OBV presents the reworking by Hector Berlioz from 1859 and that is anything but a pale copy of the original, but a full-blooded French opera with additional music. Maestro Francesco Corti, who was responsible for a fiery Don Giovanni last season, once again guarantees thrilling musical drama on a knife's edge.