A village in Arcadia prepares for the wedding of Orpheus and Euridice. But suddenly the nymph Daphne comes to tell us that Euridice has died, bitten by a snake. Orpheus then descends into the Underworld to rescue her from death. Despite the strict prohibition against releasing a soul from the Underworld, Pluto is moved by Orpheus’ song and allows him to return to earth with her. After some concern among the shepherds awaiting Orpheus’ return, the couple finally reappears. Together we celebrate the triumph of poetry and love over death.

In inventing the famous recitar cantando, Peri sought to recreate the chanting style of Greek tragedies, a form of singing that was “a middle ground between speaking and singing”. It came as a real shock for listeners. This is what Les Épopées convey in their interpretation; no longer the pitch of notes, but the pitch of declamation. “The effect is striking,” says Denis Morrier, a leading expert on the Seicento, about their Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria by Monteverdi.

Coproduction Royal Opera / Château de Versailles Spectacles, Les Épopées.

This program will be recorded on CD for the Château de Versailles Spectacles label.

Opera in one prologue and six scenes, with a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini, based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, premiered at the Pitti Palace in Florence in 1600.

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