jan 1, 1600 - Euridice

Description:

By Peri with Caccini. Among the first operas.

A pastoral drama by Rinuccini called Euridice, after the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as told by the ancient Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses. The story proved a perfect subject for musical representation, and not just because it was based on a classical myth. Orpheus is the supreme lyric artist, a singer who can move heaven and earth (and enter hell) through the power of his art. He is a figure who attracted the first composers of musical dramas around 1600 and many later ones as well. The basic story tells how Orpheus won the lovely Eurydice as his wife only to tragically lose her when she dies from a snakebite. He descends to the Underworld to plead for her return. The gods allow him to bring her back from the dead, but only on the condition that he note look at or talk to her until they have returned home safely. When Eurydice begs for his attention, however, Orpheus glances back and she dies a second death. Sources and operatic treatments differ considerably as to the ending; there are both tragic and happy versions.

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