Organization

Conductor

John Eliot Gardiner

Stage director

Hofesh Shechter

John Fulljames

Set designer

Conor Murphy

Lighting designer

Lee Curran

Choreographer

Countertenor

Juan Diego Flórez

Orfeo

Soprano

Lucy Crowe

Euridice

Amanda Forsythe

Amor

Costume designer

Orchestra

English Baroque Soloists

Others

Monteverdi Choir

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

Orfeo ed Euridice -  (Orpheus and Eurydice)

London

United Kingdom

Orfeo ed Euridice Gluck

Public

Orpheus and Eurydice

Approved

The Monteverdi Choir and The Hofesh Shechter Dance Company in The Royal Opera's production of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice. Find out more at http://www.roh.org.uk/eurydice

The Italian Orfeo ed Euridice was the first of Gluck’s great ‘reform’ operas. In it, he and his librettist Ranieri de’ Calzabigi sought to move away from the complicated plots and ornate music of opera seria, in favour of a ‘noble simplicity’, where music always drives the story. The opera’s premiere at the Vienna Burgtheater on 5 October 1762 was a great success – so much so that Gluck himself revised the opera for the French premiere at the Paris Opéra on 2 August 1774 as Orphée et Eurydice. It is longer, larger and grander; Gluck extended movements, added new ones and revised the orchestration to suit the forces of the Opéra. He also recast the role of Orpheus from alto castrato to the haute-contre of French opera, a very high tenor. The opera remains Gluck’s most popular work, and a landmark in operatic history.

Orphée et Eurydice includes some of Gluck’s most loved music, from Orphée’s tender ‘Objet de mon amour’ and ‘J’ai perdu mon Eurydice’ to the spectacular ‘L’espoir renaît dans mon âme’, added for the French premiere. The chorus also assumes a role of great importance, particularly in their roles as the shades and Furies of the underworld. But the opera is perhaps most celebrated for its innovative dance music; two of its many highlights include the ‘Dance of the Furies’ and the ‘Dance of the Blessed Spirits’. In this new production for The Royal Opera, acclaimed choreographer Hofesh Shechter, who made his debut with The Royal Ballet in the 2014/15 Season, makes his operatic debut in collaboration with Associate Director of Opera John Fulljames (La donna del lago, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny).

Orphée et Eurydice - The Dance of the Furies (The Royal Opera)

​In Autumn 2015, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, led by John Eliot Gardiner, showcased Gluck’s opera Orphée et Eurydice at the Royal Opera House.

In a new production directed by Hofesh Shechter and John Fulljames, the Monteverdi ensembles performed alongside dancers from the Hofesh Shechter Company. In a series of eight performances that opened the Royal Opera House’s 2015/2016 season, tenor Juan Diego Flórez and soprano Lucy Crowe joined the cast in the title roles, with soprano Amanda Forsythe singing the role of Amour. Following the series at the Royal Opera House in September, the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists and John Eliot Gardiner, joined by tenor Michele Angelini, went on to give concert performances of the work at Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle and Versailles’ Opéra Royal in October.

English

Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck, From (2015/2015), Directed by Hofesh Shechter, John Fulljames,, Conductor John Eliot Gardiner

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

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