L’Orfeo

Claudio Monteverdi
Favola in musica in one prologue and five acts [1607]

Eric sings the role of La Speranza.

Orpheus sings to vanquish death, hoping to save his dead wife from the underworld. And so it is entirely fitting that the history of opera should begin with a work celebrating the power of music. The premiere of Claudio Monteverdi’s »L’Orfeo« on 24 February 1607 is regarded as the birth of musical theatre. In the Semperoper, Monteverdi’s opera about the power and impotence of music can now be experienced for the first time in a new production of the original version. The conductor and lutenist Wolfgang Katschner will bring the score to life with an orchestra consisting of members of the Staatskapelle Dresden supported by performers of period instruments from Monteverdi’s time. Director and puppeteer Nikolaus Habjan, a shooting star of the Austrian theatre scene, will stage the work with a mixture of singing actors and life-size puppets.

Cast and Information here.