Orfeo ed Euridice

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Image courtesy of Liceu

This azione teatrale in three acts, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, was first seen at the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1762. When Gluck produced this new version of the fable of Orpheus nearly a century and a half after Monteverdi, he was in effect committing himself to reforming the conventions of opera. He focused on the forcefulness, cohesion and wealth of the plot to create a work which broke with past forms and added a profusion of luminously beautiful ballets and choruses.  

But aside from the beauty of Gluck's opera, this Liceu performance has an added attraction: the chance to hear it interpreted by René Jacobs at the head of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, which has long been at the pinnacle of period instrument ensembles. 

Jacobs, one of the greatest countertenors of all time, laid down the guidelines for singing the role of Orpheus. Now he approaches the work as a conductor, concentrating on the drama and underscoring the dynamics and universality of the score. His conducting style is a guarantee of subtle shading and theatricality, elegance and attention to detail, with the aim of offering something new and unique. 

While the theme is taken from one of the most attractive of myths, the action concentrates on Orpheus and Eurydice as a couple and the arias demand consummate sensibility and virtuosity.  

Gluck's opera, which blends grace with poetry, depicts Orpheus as he faces a hazardous decision, for to embark on the daunting and painful descent into hell to recover the woman he loves is nothing less than a leap into the void. “Che farò senza Euridice?” (What will I do without Eurydice?) 

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