Monteverdi might be surprised to find himself hailed as the inventor of the opera, and he disclaimed the role of revolutionary, but his Orfeo is a radical, innovative and extraordinary work The ...

Is it possible for one person to invent an entire form of art? It would seem like a tall order by any standard. More a scene than a single, Orfeo's "Possente spirto" — "Powerful Spirit" — is his ...

The opera's first two acts are both set in the fields of Thrace. In ACT ONE, Orfeo and Euridice are married in a raucous celebration that includes a chorus of shepherds and nymphs. But as ACT TWO ...

In the bizarre and fascinating history of opera, composers unexpectedly appear who completely change the course of the art. It doesn’t happens overnight, and the musical trailblazer may not even know ...

Franz Joseph Haydn was busily conducting the first rehearsal of his opera, Orfeo ed Euridice, when into the new King’s Theater walked the royal bailiffs with an order prohibiting the performance. King ...

As theaters around the world went dark in March, Bienen’s spring production of Claudio Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” was just ramping up. Performing the opera in Cahn Auditorium was no longer an option, so ...