In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi created his Orfeo, a fable in music, for the Carnival opening at Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga’s Court Theatre in Mantua. For the first time in the history of music, real characters were animated by overwhelming human feelings: the exceptional dramatic power of the work gave birth to modern opera. Stéphane Fuget is one of the great experts in this repertoire, a specialist of historical ornamentation on the most illustrious stages. His ensemble, Les Épopées, brings together some of the finest vocal and instrumental virtuosos, all acclaimed specialists of the Italian Seicento. The CD recording they have just made, of Ulysses’ Return to his Homeland, also by Monteverdi, is proving to be the great modern reference for this mythical score: this time he will perform Orfeo in concert (also recorded), with the splendid and sensitive tenor Julian Prégardien to sing all the magnificence of the first true hero in the history of opera.

Opera in five acts with prologue, libretto by Alessandro Striggio, first performed in Mantua in 1607.