Orpheus and Eurydice

«Orfeo ed Euridice» (Italian: Orfeo ed Euridice) — an opera by C. W. Gluck, created in 1762 on the subject of the Greek myth of Orpheus. The original version of the libretto was written in Italian by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. The opera premiered on 5 October 1762 at Vienna's «Burgtheater».

Three versions of the opera are known. The first two were made in Gluck's lifetime. In them the part of Orpheus was written, respectively, for a castrato and for a tenor. In 1859 H. Berlioz prepared his own edition of the opera, specially for Pauline Viardot, in which the part of Orpheus was rewritten for a female voice (mezzo-soprano or contralto).

Why did we choose "Orpheus"? First, because it's beautiful! The opera is rich in easily memorable choruses. The plot is varied. Orpheus's wanderings in search of Eurydice make it possible to move the action to different spaces: the gates of Hell with dancing Furies, Elysium, where blessed spirits sing with heavenly voices and dance beautifully. The stage space was designed in an interesting way: the action in the real world took place against painted scenery, while the fantastical world was depicted with fabrics of different textures.

In this production we performed with two casts for the first time. And, of course, we cut heavily: our "Orpheus" lasted only 40 minutes. It was performed 6 times.