Opera Explained - An Introduction To Monteverdi: Orfeo

$14.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
November 18, 2008
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      MONTEVERDI, CLAUDIO
    • PERFORMER
      Various
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      November 18, 2008
    • UPC
      636943817421
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8558174
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Music Education
    Works ⌄

    1. Background: Introduction

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    2. Background: Monteverdi's early life and education

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    3. Background: Monteverdi's other operas and performance practice

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    4. Orfeo: Prologue

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    5. Orfeo: A shepherd summons the chorus to sing

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    6. Orfeo: Orpheus is told that Eurydice is dead

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    7. Orfeo: Expressions of grief from the chorus and shepherds

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    8. Orfeo: Orpheus descends into hell

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    9. Orfeo: Charon's response to Orpheus

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    10. Orfeo: Pluto's pronouncement

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    11. Orfeo: Doubts assail Orpheus

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    12. Orfeo: Orpheus's long lament and the first ending

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson

    13. Orfeo: The second ending

      Composer: Claudio Monteverdi

      Performer: David Timson


Monteverdi's Orfeo, first performed in 1607, generates a special excitement because it is the first unquestioned masterpiece of opera. Notable for it's precise orchestration and powerful drama it was a groundbreaking work. It concerns the legend of Orpheus, the demi-god whose music had the power to conquer the forces of Hell and to bring his wife back, briefly, to life. The extracts used in this introduction are from Naxos's full recording; it uses authentic period instruments, which serve to evoke the early Baroque period of the opera's composition.