1 gen 1762 anni - Orfeo ed Euridice: Excerpt from Act II, Scene 1 (NAWM 110)

Descrizione:

Composer: Christoph Willibald Cluck
Genre: Opera

Produced in Vienna, this was the first of three operas on which Gluck and the poet Ranieri Calzabigi (1714-1795) collaborated in an effort to reform Italian opera. Gluck used the powerful new resources of the symphony orchestra (using two different orchestras for this production), calculated key relationships, and unprepared diminished and dominant seventh chords to contrive a terrifying and suspenseful theatrical experience.

What's happening in this particular scene:
It takes place in the underworld, where Orfeo (Orpheus) went in search of his bride Euridice, but is stopped by the Furies. He calms their wrath by singing them a song.

The Furies:
Gluck makes the furies threatening through suddenly loud dynamics, tremolos, chromatic motion, dissonant chords, and blasts from the brass. In this scene, the ballet and chorus are also fully integrated with the central action of the drama.

Orfeo's Song:
Demonstrates Gluck’s pride in simple melodies, sparse embellishment, and economy of melodic and textual repetition. The song proceeds in balanced two and four measure phrases of the contemporary Italian style, but the simple ornamentation prevents French offense. Gluck combines Italian style with French elements, such as the chorus, dance, and evocative use of instrumental timbre. He originally wrote it for a castrato, typical for the protagonist in Italian operas at this time, but changed it to a tenor in an adaptation for a French stage since castrati were not in fashion in France at that time.

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