(; ; ) 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. 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.
The opera is the most popular of Gluck's works, 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,The original spelling of the French title was Orphée et Euridice, but modern French orthography uses Orphée et Eurydice. and several alterations were made in vocal casting and orchestration to suit French tastes.
Background
Francesco Algarotti's Essay on the Opera (1755) was a major influence in the development of Gluck's reformist ideology. Algarotti proposed a heavily simplified model of opera seria, with the drama pre-eminent, instead of the music or ballet or staging. The drama itself should "delight the eyes and ears, to rouse up and to affect the hearts of an audience, without the risk of sinning against reason or common sense". Algarotti's ideas influenced both Gluck and his librettist, Calzabigi. Calzabigi was himself a prominent advocate of reform, and he stated, "If Mr Gluck was the creator of dramatic music, he did not create it from nothing. I provided him with the material or the chaos, if you like. We therefore share the honour of that creation."
Other influences included the composer Niccolò Jommelli and his maître de ballet at Stuttgart, Jean-Georges Noverre. Noverre's Lettres sur la danse (1760) called for dramatic effect over acrobatic ostentation; Noverre was himself influenced by the operas of Rameau and the acting style of David Garrick. The considerable quantity of ballet in Orfeo ed Euridice is thought to be due to his influence. Jommelli himself was noted for his blending of all aspects of the production: ballet, staging, and audience.
The ending of Orfeo ed Euridice, in which the god Amore restores Euridice back to life to be reunited happily with Orfeo, is a significant departure from the normally tragic ending of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In the preface to the original score, Calzabigi wrote, "In order to accommodate the legend to our theatre, I had to transform the ending."quoted in According to Patricia Howard, this ending has been harshly criticized and often dismissed by later critics as a product of the opera premiering on the name day of the Emperor Francis I, a celebratory event. However, Orfeo ed Euridice was planned and written before its premiere date was set, and was performed privately at least twice prior to its premiere without provoking criticism over its ending; contemporary audiences were fully accustomed to the deus ex machina happy ending, which was a usual convention in neoclassical drama.
Roles +RoleVoice type5 October 1762Revised Italian version24 August 1769Conductor: GluckRevised French version2 August 1774Orfeoalto castrato (Vienna premiere), haute-contre (high tenor, French premiere)Gaetano Guadagni Giuseppe Millico Joseph LegrosAmoresoprano (en travesti)Lucia ClavereauFelicita SuardiRosalie LevasseurEuridicesopranoMarianna BianchiAntonia Maria Girelli-AguilarSophie ArnouldChorus and dancers: shepherds, shepherdesses, nymphs, demons, Furies, happy spirits, heroes and heroines
Synopsis The first lines of arias, choruses, etc., are given in Italian (1762 version) and French (1774 version).
Act 1 A chorus of nymphs and shepherds join Orfeo around the tomb of his wife Euridice in a solemn chorus of mourning; Orfeo is only able to utter Euridice's name (Chorus and Orfeo: "Ah, se intorno"/"Ah! Dans ce bois"). Orfeo sends the others away and sings of his grief in the aria "Chiamo il mio ben"/"Objet de mon amour", the three verses of which are preceded by expressive recitatives. This technique was extremely radical at the time and indeed proved overly so for those who came after Gluck: Mozart chose to retain the unity of the aria. Amore (Cupid) appears, telling Orfeo that he may go to the Underworld and return with his wife on the condition that he not look at her until they are back on earth (1774 only: aria by Amour, "Si les doux accords"). As encouragement, Amore informs Orfeo that his present suffering shall be short-lived with the aria "Gli sguardi trattieni"/"Soumis au silence". Orfeo resolves to take on the quest. In the 1774 version only he delivers an ariette ("L'espoir renaît dans mon âme") in the older, showier, Italian style, originally composed for an occasional entertainment, Il Parnaso confuso (1765), and subsequently re-used in another one, Le feste d'Apollo (1769).
Act 2 In a rocky landscape, the Furies refuse to admit Orfeo to the Underworld, and sing of Cerberus, its canine guardian ("Chi mai dell'Erebo"/"Quel est l'audacieux"). When Orfeo, accompanied by his lyre (represented in the opera by a harp), begs for pity in the aria "Deh placatevi con me"/"Laissez-vous toucher", he is at first interrupted by cries of "No!"/"Non!" from the Furies, but they are eventually softened by the sweetness of his singing in the arias "Mille pene"/"Ah! La flamme" and "Men tiranne"/"La tendresse", and let him in ("Ah, quale incognito affetto"/"Quels chants doux"). In the 1774 version, the scene ends with the "Dance of the Furies" (No. 28).In the Metropolitan Opera productions in the 1950s, or even earlier, that number concluded act 1 of the opera, and act 2 starts with the ballet music of the next scene.
The second scene opens in Elysium. The brief ballet of 1762 became the four-movement "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" (with a prominent part for solo flute) in 1774. This is followed (1774 only) by a solo which celebrates happiness in eternal bliss ("Cet asile"), sung by either an unnamed Spirit or Euridice, and repeated by the chorus. Orfeo arrives and marvels at the purity of the air in an arioso ("Che puro ciel"/"Quel nouveau ciel"). But he finds no solace in the beauty of the surroundings, for Euridice is not yet with him. He implores the spirits to bring her to him, which they do (Chorus: "Torna, o bella"/"Près du tendre objet").
Act 3
On the way out of Hades, Euridice is delighted to be returning to earth, but Orfeo, remembering the condition related by Amore in act 1, lets go of her hand and refusing to look at her, does not explain anything to her. She does not understand his action and reproaches him, but he must suffer in silence (Duet: "Vieni, appaga il tuo consorte"/"Viens, suis un époux"). Euridice takes this to be a sign that he no longer loves her, and refuses to continue, concluding that death would be preferable. She sings of her grief at Orfeo's supposed infidelity in the aria "Che fiero momento"/"Fortune ennemie" (in 1774, there is a brief duet before the reprise). Unable to take any more, Orfeo turns and looks at Euridice; again, she dies. Orfeo sings of his grief in the famous aria "Che farò senza Euridice?"/"J'ai perdu mon Eurydice" ("What shall I do without Euridice?"/"I have lost my Euridice") Orfeo decides he will kill himself to join Euridice in Hades, but Amore returns to stop him (1774 only: Trio: "Tendre Amour"). In reward for Orfeo's continued love, Amore returns Euridice to life, and she and Orfeo are reunited. After a four-movement ballet, all sing in praise of Amore ("Trionfi Amore"). In the 1774 version, the chorus ("L'Amour triomphe") precedes the ballet, to which Gluck had added three extra movements.
Performance history
The opera was first performed in Vienna at the Burgtheater on 5 October 1762, for the name day celebrations of the Emperor Francis I. The production was supervised by the reformist theatre administrator, Count Giacomo Durazzo. Choreography was by Gasparo Angiolini, and set designs were by Giovanni Maria Quaglio the Elder, both leading members of their fields. The first Orfeo was the famous castrato Gaetano Guadagni. Orfeo was revived in Vienna during the following year, but then not performed until 1769. For the performances that took place in London in 1770, Guadagni sang the role of Orpheus, but little of the music bore any relation to Gluck's original, with J. C. Bach – "the English Bach" – providing most of the new music. Haydn conducted a performance of the Italian version at Eszterháza in 1776.
During the early 19th century, Adolphe Nourrit became particularly well known for his performances of Orpheus at the Paris Opera. In 1854 Franz Liszt conducted the work at Weimar, composing a symphonic poem of his own to replace Gluck's original overture. Typically during the 19th century and for most of the 20th century, the role of Orfeo was sung by a female contralto, and noted interpreters of the role from this time include Dame Clara Butt, Kathleen Ferrier and Ewa Podleś, and the mezzo-sopranos Rita Gorr, Marilyn Horne, Dame Janet Baker, Susanne Marsee, and Risë Stevens (at the Metropolitan Opera). Among conductors, Arturo Toscanini was a notable proponent of the opera. His November 1952 radio broadcast of act 2 was eventually released on LP and CD.
In 2017 the Lyric Opera of Chicago presented a new production by choreographer John Neumeier which fuses the musical and ballet elements of the opera and features the Joffrey Ballet. The production uses the 1774 "Paris version" (albeit with a rearranged finale), with the part of Orfeo being sung by a tenor. The main characters are presented in a modern setting with Orfeo as a choreographer, Euridice as his principal dancer, and Amour as his assistant. The same production was staged by the Los Angeles Opera in 2018 and by the Hamburg State Opera and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in 2019.Festspielhaus Baden Baden Website .
Revised versions
1769 Parma version In 1769, for Le feste d'Apollo at Parma (which was conducted by the composer), Gluck transposed the role of Orfeo up for the soprano castrato Giuseppe Millico, maintaining Calzabigi's original libretto, albeit reduced to a single act and renamed Atto d'Orfeo.
After not having been performed for a very long time, this version was finally given its first modern revival on 13 November 2014 at the in Herne, Germany, with a countertenor in the title role.Thomas Molke, "Gelungener Festival-Abschluss"; Online Musik Magazin, 16 November 2014. It was staged again, with Cecilia Bartoli in the male lead, at the 2023 Salzburg Whitsun Festival and later at Cremona's Teatro Ponchielli in June 2025.
Gluck's 1774 Paris Opera version