Baroque

L'Orfeo

L'Orfeo, or La favola d'Orfeo, was an Italian opera composed by Claudio Monteverdi, in 1607 during his employment to the Duke of Mantua, Vicenzo Gonzaga. This opera was inspired by the opera Eurydice (1600) by Jacopo Peri. The video below is Monteverdi's Orfeo with La Capella Reial de Catalunya.

The Myth

L'Orfeo is based upon the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus, son of the God Apollo and the Muse, Calliope, was a talented musician who fell in love with, and married, the beautiful Eurydice. Their marriage was prophesied to not last, and that prophecy was fulfilled when Eurydice died by a snake bite while fleeing from an overly amorous shepherd named Aristaeus. Orpheus played on his lyre so sorrowfully that he touched the hearts of all those in the world, Gods and humans alike. Apollo tells him to go to the Underworld and speak to Hades to persuade him to give Eurydice back her life. Orpheus makes the journey and accomplishes this goal by melting the cold heart of Hades with his playing. Hades tells him he can have Eurydice back on one condition; that as he makes his way back to the light from the Caves of the Underworld, he must not look at her as she follows him out or he will lose her forever. He, of course, looks back and her shadowed self returns to Hades. 

There are many different versions to the ending of this tale. One has Orpheus so grieved, he plays his lyre begging for death. He is torn apart by either beasts, or by Maenads, crazed followers of the God Bacchus. Another version has Zeus striking him dead with a lightning bolt to keep him from spilling the secrets of the Underworld to humans. Pictured below is Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice, painted by Nicolas Poussin between 1650 and 1653.

The Influence of Royalty

At this point in history, the Renaissance movement still had influence in Italy, with the continued focus on Greek and Roman mythology. This provided the base for the beginning of Italian opera. The Gonzaga family had long been a patron to the arts, even before the birth of Vicenzo Gonzaga. About a century before he was born, the court's musical department helped create Giovanni Battista Guarini's play, Il pastor fido, a Greek tragicomedy which was inspiration for Italian enthusiasm on the pastoral drama. Vicenzo, himself, was a passionate patron of the arts and sciences, and he turned his court into a cultural center, the Accademia degli Invaghiti. He loved musical theater and performance, influenced by his family's association with the court of Florence.

On the 6th of October, 1600, the Duke of Mantua attended the royal wedding of Maria de'Medici and King Henry IV, at which time he saw the production of Eurydice and "quickly recognized the novelty of this new form of dramatic entertainment, and its potential for bringing prestige to those prepared to sponsor it" (L'Orfeo wikipedia). The first performance was dedicated by Monteverdi to Francesco Gonzaga, the eldest son of the Duke, who was also a part of the Accademia degli Invaghiti.

The libretto, defined as the text of an opera, for L'Orfeo was written by Alessandro Striggio the Younger and somewhat mimicked the libretto written by Ottavio Rinuccini for Peri's Eurydice. Musicologist Gary Tomlinson, who has taught and lectured on the history of the opera and early-modern European musical thought, comments about the similarities between the two, saying that the speeches in L'Orfeo, "correspond closely in content and even in locution to their counter parts in L'Euridice" (qtd. in L'Orfeo wikipedia). The comparison of the two librettos tie directly to the royal influence inflicted upon the art of opera because the content often times was decided upon who would be in the audience. American musicologist, Barbara Russano Hanning, specializing in 16th and 17th century Italian music states that the styles of the libretto are different because Rinuccini's verses were more subtle compared to Striggio's and that because he was writing for a royal wedding, he changed Eurydice's ending in order to make it happier than the ending in the myth ( paraphrased in L'Orfeo wikipedia). Monteverdi also wrote the opera as a five act performance, which often times was changed to accommodate the current court performances. Patronage was very important to an artist, especially a composer, and the Duke and the royal court "dictated the music the composer produced" ( "Baroque Music").

The essence of L'Orfeo

The first opera to be composed was actually Dafne by Jacopo Peri, but it was Monteverdi who blended different elements of music and theater into one artistic endeavor, creating the foundation of what we, today, know as opera. He utilized dramatic musical interludes, choruses, strophic song (where every chorus is sung to the same music), recitative, and dances, along with the operatic score of the aria, to tell the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. He included the madrigal style of the Renaissance era and combined it with recitative style while also surpassing the boundaries of polyphonics. He used the instruments to help tell the story by having the three different groups present represent the two different worlds of the opera. The rustic countryside of Thrace was represented by the strings (featuring violins, cellos, violas, and the double bass), harpsichord, harp, organ, recorders, and chitarrone. The remaining brass section and some of the string represented the dark Underworld. Also, some of the characters were accompanied by a certain instrument; Orpheus was paired with a harp or organ, trombones for the Underworld Gods, and harpsichords and chitarrone for the shepherds.  
Monteverdi wrote and composed the score for L'Orfeo plainly and also wrote it with some embellishment for the singers of the arias. It was customary for any work of this era to change based upon the interpretation of those performing it, and this practice is what has ensured the timelessness of this operatic piece. It performed from its first showing in 1607 to about the 1650s, right after the death of Monteverdi. It wasn't revived again until the late 19th century and has been put into play throughout the 20th century to the present day. 
  
My Thoughts
I chose this piece because I find it fascinating. I have never seen L'Orfeo, or even been to the opera. A dramatic story, singing and dancing, instrumental music, and theatrical performances, all combined together, is something I really wish to experience in person. I especially liked the dancing in the first act, how it was paired in perfect time to the madrigal singing. It seemed as if the dancers were singing along as well, their jumping and leaping coinciding with the up and down of the madrigal. Monteverdi, a composer, musician, and singer; must have wanted to put everything he loved into one place, and that is why he must have created the opera.

 Works Cited

"Barbara Russano Hanning." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Russano_Hanning.  
"Baroque Music: The Realities of Patronage." Music of the Baroque. baroque.org, 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.  http://www.baroque.org/baroque/whatis.htm
"Frontispiece of L'Orfeo." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,  8 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Orfeo#mediaviewer/File:Frontispiece_of_L%27Orfeo.jpg.
"Gary Tomlinson." Yale University Department of Music. yalemusic.yale.edu, 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. http://yalemusic.yale.edu/people/gary-tomlinson. 
"Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Jan. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscape_with_Orpheus_and_Eurydice. 
"L'Orfeo." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Orfeo.
Monteverdi, Claudio. "L'Orfeo performed by La Capella Reial de Catalunya". youtube. Youtube, 21 Jun. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ma4OelX45I.  
"Orpheus and Eurydice." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_and_Eurydice.
"Vicenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,