L'Orfeo 1

L'OrfeoL'Orfeo (SV 318), sometimes called L'Orfeo, favola in musica, is an early Baroque opera by Claudio Monteverdi,with a text by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and tells the story of his descent toHades and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride Eurydice back to the living world. Written in 1607 for a courtperformance during the annual Carnival at Mantua, L'Orfeo is one of the earliest music dramas still regularlyperformed.Within the musical theatre at the beginning of the 17th century the traditional intermedio—a musical sequencebetween the acts of a straight play—was evolving into the form of a complete musical drama or "opera".Monteverdi's L'Orfeo moved this process out of its experimental era, and provided the first fully developed examplewithin the new genre. After its initial performance the work was staged again in Mantua, and possibly in other Italiancentres in the next few years. Its score was published by Monteverdi in 1609 and again in 1615. After the composer'sdeath in 1643 the opera remained unperformed, and was largely forgotten until a revival of interest in the late 19thcentury led to a spate of modern editions and performances. At first these tended to be unstaged versions withininstitutes and music societies, but following the first modern dramatised performance in Paris, in 1911, the work wasseen increasingly in theatres. After the Second World War most new editions sought authenticity through the use ofperiod instruments. Many recordings were issued, and the opera was increasingly staged in opera houses. In 2007 thequatercentenary of the premiere was celebrated by performances throughout the world.In his published score Monteverdi lists around 40 instruments to be deployed, with distinct groups of instrumentsused to depict particular scenes and characters. Thus strings, harpsichords and recorders represent the pastoral fieldsof Thrace with their nymphs and shepherds, heavy brass illustrates the underworld and its denizens. Composed at thepoint of transition from the Renaissance era to the Baroque, L'Orfeo employs all the resources then known within theart of music, with particularly daring use of polyphony. The work is not orchestrated as such; in the Renaissancetradition instrumentalists followed the composer's general instructions but were given considerable freedom toimprovise. This separates Monteverdi's work from the later opera canon, and makes each performance of L'Orfeo auniquely individual occasion.

Historical background

Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga,Monteverdi's employer at Mantua

Claudio Monteverdi, born in Cremona in 1567, was a musical prodigy whostudied under Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella (head of music)at Cremona Cathedral. After training in singing, strings playing and composition,Monteverdi worked as a musician in Verona and Milan until, in 1590 or 1591, hesecured a post as suonatore di vivuola (viola player) at Duke VincenzoGonzaga's court at Mantua.[1] Through ability and hard work Monteverdi rose tobecome Gonzaga's maestro della musica in 1601.[2] [3]

Vincenzo Gonzaga's particular passion for musical theatre and spectacle grewfrom his family connections with the court of Florence. Towards the end of the16th century innovative Florentine musicians were developing the intermedio—along-established form of musical interlude inserted between the acts of spokendramas—into increasingly elaborate forms.[2] Led by Jacopo Corsi, thesesuccessors to the renowned Camerata[4] were responsible for the first workgenerally recognised as belonging to the genre of opera: Dafne, composed byCorsi and Jacopo Peri and performed in Florence in 1598. This work combined elements of madrigal singing and

monody with dancing and instrumental passages to form a dramatic whole. Only fragments of its music still exist, but several other Florentine works of the same period—Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo by Emilio de'

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Cavalieri, Peri's Euridice and Giulio Caccini's identically titled Euridice—survive complete. These last two workswere the first of many musical representations of the Orpheus myth as recounted in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and assuch were direct precursors of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo.[5] [6]

The Gonzaga court had a long history of promoting dramatic entertainment. A century before Duke Vincenzo's timethe court had staged Angelo Poliziano's lyrical drama La favola di Orfeo, at least half of which was sung rather thanspoken. More recently, in 1598 Monteverdi had helped the court's musical establishment to produce GiovanniBattista Guarini's play Il pastor fido, described by theatre historian Mark Ringer as a "watershed theatrical work"which inspired the Italian craze for pastoral drama.[7] On 6 October 1600, while visiting Florence for the wedding ofMaria de' Medici to King Henry IV of France, Duke Vincenzo attended a production of Peri's Euridice.[6] It is likelythat his principal musicians, including Monteverdi, were also present at this performance. The Duke quicklyrecognised the novelty of this new form of dramatic entertainment, and its potential for bringing prestige to thoseprepared to sponsor it.[8]

Creation

Libretto

Orpheus with his viol; a 17th-centurypainting

Among those present at the Euridice performance in October 1600 was a younglawyer and career diplomat from Gonzaga's court, Alessandro Striggio,[9] son ofa well-known composer of the same name. The younger Striggio was himself atalented musician who in 1589, as a 16-year-old, had played the viol at thewedding festivities of Duke Ferdinando of Tuscany. Together with DukeVincent's two young sons, Francesco and Fernandino, he was a member ofMantua's exclusive intellectual society, the Accademia degli Invaghiti, whichprovided the chief outlet for the city's theatrical works.[10] [11] It is not clear atwhat point Striggio began his libretto for L'Orfeo, but work was evidently underway in January 1607. In a letter written on 5 January, Francesco Gonzago askshis brother, then attached to the Florentine court, to obtain the services of a highquality castrato from the Grand Duke's establishment, for a "play in music" beingprepared for the Mantuan Carnival.[12]

Striggio's main sources for his libretto were Books 10 and 11 of Ovid'sMetamorphoses and Book Four of Virgil's Georgics. These provided him with the basic material, but not thestructure for a staged drama; the events of Acts 1 and 2 of the libretto are covered by a mere 13 lines in theMetamorphoses.[13] For help in creating a dramatic form, Striggio drew on other sources—Poliziano's 1480 play,Guarini's Il pastor fido, and Ottavio Rinuccini's libretto for Peri's Euridice.[14] Musicologist Gary Tomlinson remarkson the many similarities between Striggio's and Rinuccini's texts, noting that some of the speeches in L'Orfeo"correspond closely in content and even in locution to their counterparts in L'Euridice".[15] Critic Barbara RussanoHanning writes that Striggio's verses are less subtle than those of Rinuccini, although the structure of Striggio'slibretto is more interesting.[10] Rinuccini, whose work had been written for the festivities accompanying a Mediciwedding, was obliged to alter the myth to provide a "happy ending", suitable for this occasion. By contrast, becauseStriggio was not writing for a formal court celebration he could be more faithful to the spirit of the myth'sconclusion, in which Orfeo is killed and dismembered by deranged maenads or "Bacchantes".[14] He chose, in fact,to write a somewhat muted version of this bloody finale, in which the Bacchantes threaten Orfeo's destruction but hisactual fate is left in doubt.[16]

The libretto published in Mantua in 1607 to coincide with the premiere incorporates Striggio's ambiguous ending. However, Monteverdi's score published in Venice in 1609 by Ricciardo Amadino shows an entirely different

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resolution, with Orpheus transported to the heavens through the intervention of Apollo.[10] According to Ringer,Striggio's original ending was almost certainly used at the opera's premiere, but there is no doubt that Monteverdibelieved the revised ending was aesthetically correct.[16] The musicologist Nino Pirrotta argues that the Apolloending was part of the original plan for the work, but was not staged at the premiere because the small room whichhosted the event could not contain the theatrical machinery that this ending required. The Bacchantes scene was asubstitution; Monteverdi's intentions were restored when this constraint was removed.[17]

Composition

Front cover of the 1609 published score ofL'Orfeo

When Monteverdi wrote the music for L'Orfeo he had a thoroughgrounding in theatrical music. He had been employed at the Gonzagacourt for 16 years, much of it as a performer or arranger of stage music,and in 1604 he had written the ballo Gli amori di Diane ed Endimonefor the 1604–05 Mantua Carnival.[18] The elements from whichMonteverdi constructed his first opera score—the aria, the strophicsong, recitative, choruses, dances, dramatic musical interludes—were,as conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt has pointed out, not created byhim, but "he blended the entire stock of newest and older possibilitiesinto a unity that was indeed new".[19] Musicologist Robert Doningtonwrites similarly: "[The score] contains no element which was not basedon precedent, but it reaches complete maturity in thatrecently-developed form ... Here are words as directly expressed inmusic as [the pioneers of opera] wanted them expressed; here is musicexpressing them ... with the full inspiration of genius."[20]

Monteverdi states the orchestral requirements at the beginning of hispublished score, but in accordance with the practice of the day he doesnot specify their exact usage.[19] At that time it was usual to allow each interpreter of the work freedom to makelocal decisions, based on the orchestral forces at their disposal. These could differ sharply from place to place.Furthermore, as Harnoncourt points out, the instrumentalists would all have been composers and would haveexpected to collaborate creatively at each performance, rather than playing a set text.[19] Another practice of the timewas to allow singers to embellish their arias. Monteverdi wrote plain and embellished versions of some arias, such asOrfeo's "Possente spirito",[21] but according to Harnoncourt "it is obvious that where he did not write anyembellishments he did not want any sung".[22]

Each act of the opera deals with a single element of the story, and each ends with a chorus. Despite the five-actstructure, with two sets of scene changes, it is likely that L'Orfeo conformed to the standard practice for courtentertainments of that time and was played as a continuous entity, without intervals or curtain descents between acts.It was the contemporary custom for scene shifts to take place in sight of the audience, these changes being reflectedmusically by changes in instrumentation, key and style.[23]

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Instrumentation

1609 score: Monteverdi's listing of instruments isshown on the right.

For the purpose of analysis, music scholar Jane Glover dividesMonteverdi's list of instruments into three main groups: strings, brassand continuo, with a few further items not easily classifiable.[24] Thestrings grouping is formed from ten members of the violin family(Viole da brazzo), two double basses (Contrabassi de Viola), and twosmall violins (Violini piccoli alla Francese). The Viole da brazzo are intwo five-part ensembles, each comprising two violins, two violas and acello.[24] The brass group contains four or five trombones (sackbuts),three trumpets and two cornetts. The continuo forces include twoharpsichords (Duoi Gravicembani), a double harp (Arpa doppia), twoor three chitarroni, two pipe organs (organi di legno), three bass Violada gamba, and a regal or small reed organ. Outside of these groupingsare two recorders (flautini alla Vigesima secunda), a clarino which isused only in the opera's opening toccata. and possibly one or morecitterns—unlisted by Monteverdi, but included in instructions relatingto the end of Act 4.[24]

Instrumentally, the two worlds represented within the opera aredistinctively portrayed. The pastoral world of the fields of Thrace is

represented by the strings, harpsichords, harp, organs, recorders and chitarroni. The remaining instruments, mainlybrass, are associated with the Underworld, though there is not an absolute distinction; strings appear on severaloccasions in the Hades scenes.[22] [25] Within this general ordering, specific instruments or combinations are used toaccompany some of the main characters—Orpheus by harp and organ, shepherds by harpsichord and chitarrone, theUnderworld gods by trombones and regal.[22] All of these musical distinctions and characterisations were inaccordance with the longstanding traditions of the Renaissance orchestra, of which the large L'Orfeo ensemble istypical.[26]

Monteverdi instructs his players generally to "[play] the work as simply and correctly as possible, and not with manyflorid passages or runs". Those playing ornamentation instruments such as strings and flutes are advised to "playnobly, with much invention and variety", but are warned against overdoing it, whereby "nothing is heard but chaosand confusion, offensive to the listener."[27] Since at no time are all the instruments played together, the number ofplayers needed is less than the number of instruments. Harnoncourt indicates that in Monteverdi's day the numbers ofplayers and singers together, and the small rooms in which performances were held, often meant that the audiencebarely numbered more than the performers.[28]

RolesIn his personaggi listed in the 1609 score, Monteverdi unaccountably omits La messaggera (the Messenger), andindicates that the final chorus of shepherds who perform the moresca (Moorish dance) at the opera's end, are aseparate group (che fecero la moresca nel fine).[29] Little information is available about who sang the various roles inthe first performance. A letter published at Mantua in 1612 records that the distinguished tenor and composerFrancesco Rasi took part, and it is generally assumed that he sang the title role.[5] Rasi could sing in both the tenorand bass ranges "with exquisite style ... and extraordinary feeling".[2] The involvement in the premiere of aFlorentine castrato, Giovanni Gualberto Magli, is confirmed by correspondence between the Gonzaga princes. Maglisang the prologue, Proserpina and possibly one other role, either La messaggera or Speranza.[30] The musicologistand historian Hans Redlich mistakenly allocates Magli to the role of Orfeo.[31]

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A clue about who played Euridice is contained in a 1608 letter to Duke Vincenzo. It refers to "that little priest whoperformed the role of Euridice in the Most Serene Prince's Orfeo". Possibly this priest was Padre Girolamo Bacchini,a castrato known to have had connections to the Mantuan court in the early 17th century.[5] Monteverdi scholar TimCarter speculates that two prominent Mantuan tenors, Pandolfo Grande and Francesco Campagnola may have sungminor roles in the premiere.[32]

There are solo parts for four shepherds and three spirits. Carter calculates that through the doubling of roles that thetext allows, a total of ten singers—three sopranos, two altos, three tenors and two basses—is required for aperformance, with the soloists (except Orfeo) also forming the chorus. Carter's suggested role-doublings include Lamusica with Euridice, Ninfa with Proserpina and La messaggera with Speranza.[32]

Role Voice type[33] Appearances Notes

La musica (Music) soprano, originally castrato Prologue

Orfeo (Orpheus) tenor Act 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Euridice (Eurydice) soprano, originally castrato Act 1, 4

La messaggera (The Messenger) soprano Act 2 Named in the libretto as "Silvia"

Speranza (Hope) soprano Act 3

Caronte (Charon) bass Act 3

Proserpina (Proserpine) soprano Act 4

Plutone (Pluto) bass Act 4

Apollo tenor Act 5

Ninfa (Nymph) soprano Act 1

Eco (Echo) tenor Act 5

Ninfe e pastori (Nymphs and shepherds) soprano, alto, tenor, bass Act 1, 2, 5 Soloists: alto, two tenors

Spiriti infernali (Infernal spirits) tenor, bass Act 3, 4 Soloists: two tenors, one bass

SynopsisThe actions take place in two contrasting locations: the fields of Thrace (Acts 1, 2 and 5) and the Underworld (Acts 3and 4). An instrumental toccata (English: "tucket", meaning a flourish on trumpets)[34] precedes the entrance of Lamusica, representing the "spirit of music", who sings a prologue of five stanzas of verse. After a gracious welcome tothe audience she announces that she can, through sweet sounds, "calm every troubled heart." She sings a furtherpaean to the power of music, before introducing the drama's main protagonist, Orfeo, who "held the wild beastsspellbound with his song".[35]

Act 1After La musica's final request for silence, the curtain rises on Act 1 to reveal a pastoral scene. Orfeo andEuridice enter together with a chorus of nymphs and shepherds, who act in the manner of a Greek chorus,commenting on the action both as a group and as individuals. A shepherd announces that this is the couple'swedding day; the chorus responds, first in a stately invocation ("Come, Hymen, O come") and then in a joyfuldance ("Leave the mountains, leave the fountains"). Orfeo and Euridice sing of their love for each other,before leaving with most of the group for the wedding ceremony in the temple. Those left on stage sing a briefchorus, commenting on how Orfeo has been changed by love from one "for whom sighs were food andweeping was drink" to a state of sublime happiness.

Act 2

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Orfeo returns with the main chorus, and sings with them of the beauties of nature. Orfeo then muses on hisformer unhappiness, but proclaims: "After grief one is more content, after pain one is happier". The mood ofcontentment is abruptly ended when La messaggera enters, bringing the news that, while gathering flowers,Euridice has received a fatal snakebite. The chorus expresses its anguish: "Ah, bitter happening, ah, impiousand cruel fate!", while the Messaggera castigates herself as the bearing of bad tidings ("For ever I will flee,and in a lonely cavern lead a life in keeping with my sorrow"). Orfeo, after venting his grief and incredulity("Thou art dead, my life, and I am breathing?"), declares his intention of descending to the Underworld andpersuading its ruler to allow Euridice to return to life. Otherwise "I shall remain with thee in the company ofdeath". He departs, and the chorus resumes its lament.

Act 3Orfeo is guided by Speranza to the gates of Hades. Having pointed out the words inscribed on the gate("Abandon hope, all ye who enter here"),[36] Speranza leaves. Orfeo is now confronted with the ferrymanCaronte, who addresses Orfeo harshly and refuses to take him across the River Styx. Orfeo attempts topersuade Caronte by singing a flattering song to him ("Mighty spirit and powerful divinity"), but the ferrymanis unmoved. However, when Orfeo takes up his lyre and plays, Caronte is soothed into sleep. Seizing hischance, Orfeo steals the ferryman's boat and crosses the river, to enter the Underworld while a chorus of spiritsreflects that nature cannot defend herself against man: "He has tamed the sea with fragile wood, and disdainedthe rage of the winds."

Act 4In the Underworld Proserpina, Queen of Hades, who has been deeply affected by Orfeo's singing, petitionsKing Plutone, her husband, for Euridice's release. Moved by her pleas, Plutone agrees subject to the conditionthat, as he leads Euridice towards the world, Orfeo must not look back. If he does, "a single glance willcondemn him to eternal loss". Orfeo enters, leading Euridice and singing confidently that on that day he willrest on his wife's white bosom. But as he sings a note of doubt creeps in: "Who will assure me that she isfollowing?". Perhaps Plutone, driven by envy, has imposed the condition through spite? Suddenly distractedby an off-stage commotion, Orfeo looks round; immediately, the image of Euridice begins to fade. She sings,despairingly: "Losest thou me through too much love?" and disappears. Orfeo attempts to follow her but isdrawn away by an unseen force. The chorus of spirits sings that Orfeo, having overcome Hades, was in turnovercome by his passions.

Act 5Back in the fields of Thrace Orfeo, in a long soliloquy, laments his loss, praises Euridice's beauty and resolvesthat his heart will never again be pierced by Cupid's arrow. An off-stage echo repeats his final phrases.Suddenly, in a cloud, Apollo descends from the heavens and chastises him: "Why dost thou give thyself up asprey to rage and grief?" He invites Orfeo to leave the world and join him in the heavens, where he willrecognise Euridice's likeness in the stars. Orfeo replies that it would be unworthy not to follow the counsel ofsuch a wise father, and together they ascend. A shepherds' chorus concludes that "he who sows in sufferingshall reap the fruit of every grace", before the opera ends with a vigorous moresca.

Original libretto endingIn Striggio's 1607 libretto, Orfeo's Act 5 soliloquy is interrupted, not by Apollo's appearance but by a chorus ofmaenads or Bacchantes—wild, drunken women—who sing of the "divine fury" of their master, the god Bacchus.The cause of their wrath is Orfeo and his renunciation of women; he will not escape their heavenly anger, and thelonger he evades them the more severe his fate will be. Orfeo leaves the scene and his destiny is left uncertain, forthe Bacchantes devote themselves for the rest of the opera to wild singing and dancing in praise of Bacchus.[37] Earlymusic authority Claude Palisca believes that the two endings are not incompatible; Orfeo evades from the fury of theBacchantes and is then rescued by Apollo.[38]

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Reception and performance history

Premiere and early performances

The Ducal Palace at Mantua, where L'Orfeo waspremiered in 1607

The date for the first performance of L'Orfeo, 24 February 1607, isevidenced by two letters, both dated 23 February. In the first,Francesco Gonzaga informs his brother that the "musical play" will beperformed tomorrow; it is clear from earlier correspondence that thisrefers to L'Orfeo. The second letter is from a Gonzaga court official,Carlo Magno, and gives more details: "Tomorrow evening the MostSerene Lord the Prince is to sponsor a [play] in a room in theapartments which the Most Serene Lady had the use of ...it should bemost unusual, as all the actors are to sing their parts."[12] The "SereneLady" is Duke Vincenzo's widowed sister Margherita Gonzaga d'Este,who lived within the ducal palace. The room of the premiere cannot beidentified with certainty; according to Ringer, it may have been the Galleria dei Fiumi, which has the dimensions toaccommodate a stage and orchestra with space for a small audience.[39]

There is no detailed account of the premiere, although Francesco wrote on 1 March that the work had "been to thegreat satisfaction of all who heard it", and had particularly pleased the Duke.[12] The Mantuan court theologian andpoet, Cherubino Ferrari wrote that: "Both poet and musician have depicted the inclinations of the heart so skilfullythat it could not have been done better ... The music, observing due propriety, serves the poetry so well that nothingmore beautiful is to be heard anywhere".[12] After the premiere Duke Vincenzo ordered a second performance for 1March; a third performance was planned to coincide with a proposed state visit to Mantua by the Duke of Savoy.Francesco wrote to the Duke of Tuscany on 8 March, asking if he could retain the services of the castrato Magli for alittle longer.[12] However, the visit was cancelled, as was the celebratory performance.[40]

There are suggestions that in the years following the premiere, L'Orfeo may have been staged in Florence, Cremona,Milan and Turin,[34] though firmer evidence suggests that the work attracted limited interest beyond the Mantuancourt.[40] Francesco may have mounted a production in Casale Monferrato, where he was governor, for the 1609–10Carnival, and there are indications that the work was performed on several occasions in Salzburg between 1614 and1619, under the direction of Francesco Rasi.[41] Years later, during the first flourish of Venetian opera in 1637–43,Monteverdi chose to revive his second opera, L'Arianna there, but not L'Orfeo.[40] There is some evidence ofperformances shortly after Monteverdi's death: in Geneva in 1643,[34] and in Paris, at the Louvre, in 1647.[42] [43]

Although according to Carter the work was still admired across Italy in the 1650s,[34] [41] it was subsequentlyforgotten, as largely was Monteverdi, until the revival of interest in his works in the late 19th century.[34] [44]

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20th-century revivals

Vincent d'Indy, who oversaw thefirst 20th-century revival of L'Orfeo

in 1904

After years of neglect, Monteverdi's music began to attract the interest of pioneermusic historians in the late 18th century and early 19th century, and from thesecond quarter of the 19th century onwards he is discussed increasingly inscholarly works.[41] In 1881 a truncated version of the L'Orfeo score, intendedfor study rather than performance, was published in Berlin by Robert Eitner.[45]

In 1904 the composer Vincent d'Indy produced an edition in French, whichcomprised only Act 2, a shortened Act 3 and Act 4. This edition was the basis ofthe first public performance of the work in two-and-a-half centuries, a concertperformance at d'Indy's Schola Cantorum on 25 February 1904.[46] [47] Thedistinguished writer Romain Rolland, who was present, commended d'Indy forbringing the opera to life and returning it "to the beauty it once had, freeing itfrom the clumsy restorations which have disfigured it"—presumably a referenceto Eitner's edition.[48] [49] The d'Indy edition was also the basis of the firstmodern staged performance of the work, at the Théâtre Réjane, Paris, on 2 May1911.[44]

An edition of the score by the minor Italian composer Giovanni Orefice receivedseveral concert performances in Italy and elsewhere before and after the First World War. This edition was the basisof the opera's United States debut, another concert performance at the New York Met in April 1912. The opera wasintroduced to London, in d'Indy's edition, when it was sung to piano accompaniment at the Institut Français on 8March 1924.[50] The first British staged performance, with only small cuts, was given by the Oxford UniversityOperatic Society on 7 December 1925, using an edition prepared for the event by Jack Westrup. In the LondonSaturday Review, music critic Dyneley Hussey called the occasion "one of the most important events of recentyears"; the production had "indicated at once Monteverdi's claim to rank among the great geniuses who have writtendramatic music".[51] Westrup's edition was revived in London at the Scala Theatre in December 1929, the same yearin which the opera received its first US staged performance, at Smith College, Northampton, MA.[44] The three Scalaperformances resulted in a financial disaster, and the opera was not seen again in Britain for 35 years.[52]

Among a flurry of revivals after 1945 was Paul Hindemith's edition, a full period reconstruction of the work preparedin 1943, which was staged and recorded at the Vienna Festival in 1954. This performance had a great impact on theyoung Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and was hailed as a masterpiece of scholarship and integrity.[53] The first staged NewYork performance, by the New York City Opera under Leopold Stokowski on 29 September 1960, saw theAmerican operatic debut of Gérard Souzay, one of several baritones who have sung the role of Orfeo. The theatrewas criticised by New York Times critic Harold C. Schonberg because, to accommodate a performance of LuigiDallapiccola's contemporary opera Il prigioniero, about a third of L'Orfeo was cut. Schonberg wrote: "Even thebiggest aria in the opera, "Possente spirito", has a good-sized slash in the middle ... [L'Orfeo] is long enough, andimportant enough, not to mention beautiful enough, to have been the entire evening's opera."[54]

By the latter part of the 20th century the opera was being shown all over the world. In 1965, Sadler's Wells, forerunner of English National Opera (ENO), staged the first of many ENO presentations which would continue into the 21st century.[44] Among various celebrations marking the opera's 400th anniversary in 2007 were a semi-staged performance at the Teatro Bibiena in Mantua,[55] a full-scale production by the English Bach Festival (EBF) at the Whitehall Banqueting House in London on 7 February,[56] and an unconventional production by Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, New York, conducted by Antony Walker and directed by Christopher Alden.[57] On 6 May 2010 the BBC broadcast a performance of the opera from La Scala, Milan.[58] Despite the reluctance of some major opera houses to stage L'Orfeo,[59] it is a popular work with the leading Baroque ensembles. During the period 2008–10 the French-based Les Arts Florissants, under its director William Christie, has presented the Monteverdi

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trilogy of operas (L'Orfeo, Il ritorno d'Ulisse and L'incoronazione di Poppea) in a series of performances at theTeatro Real in Madrid.[60]

Music

A page from the 1609 score of L'Orfeo

L'Orfeo is, in Redlich's analysis, the product of twomusical epochs. It combines elements of the traditionalmadrigal style of the 16th century with those of theemerging Florentine mode, in particular the use ofrecitative and monodic singing as developed by theCamerata and their successors.[61] In this new style, thetext dominates the music; while sinfonias andinstrumental ritornelli illustrate the action, the audience'sattention is always drawn primarily to the words. Thesingers are required to do more than produce pleasantvocal sounds; they must represent their characters in

depth and convey appropriate emotions.[62]

Monterverdi's recitative style was influenced by Peri's, in Euridice, although in L'Orfeo recitative is lesspreponderant than was usual in dramatic music at this time. It accounts for less than a quarter of the first act's music,around a third of the second and third acts, and a little under half in the final two acts.[63]

The importance of L'Orfeo is not that it was the first work of its kind, but that it was the first attempt to apply the fullresources of the art of music, as then evolved, to the nascent genre of opera.[64] In particular, Monteverdi madedaring innovations in the use of polyphony, of which Palestrina had been the principal exponent. In L'Orfeo,Monteverdi extends the rules, beyond the conventions which polyphonic composers, faithful to Palestrina, hadpreviously considered as sacrosanct.[65] Monteverdi was not in the generally-understood sense an orchestrator;[66]

Ringer finds that it is the element of instrumental improvisation that makes each performance of a Monteverdi operaa "unique experience, and separates his work from the later operatic canon."[62] The opera begins with amartial-sounding toccata for trumpets which is repeated twice. When played on period wind instruments the soundcan be startling to modern audiences; Redlich calls it "shattering".[67] Such flourishes were the standard signal for thecommencement of performances at the Mantuan court; the opening chorus of Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers, alsocomposed for Gonzaga's court, employs the same fanfare.[62] The toccata acted as a salute to the Duke; according toDonington, if it had not been written, precedent would have required it to be improvised.[20] As the brass sound ofthe toccata fades, it is replaced by the gentler tone of the strings ritornello which introduces La musica's prologue.The ritornello is repeated in shortened form between each of the prologue's five verses, and in full after the finalverse. Its function within the opera as a whole is to represents the "power of music";[34] as such it is heard at the endof Act 2, and again the beginning of Act 5, one of the earliest examples of an operatic leitmotiv.[68]

After the Prologue, Act 1 follows in the form of a pastoral idyll. Two choruses, one solemn and one jovial arerepeated in reverse order around the central love-song "Rosa del ciel" ("Rose of the heavens"), followed by theshepherds' songs of praise. The buoyant mood continues into Act 2, with song and dance music influenced,according to Harnoncourt, by Monteverdi's experience of French music.[69] The sudden entrance of La messaggerawith the doleful news of Euridice's death, and the confusion and grief which follow, are musically reflected by harshdissonances and the juxtaposition of keys.[34] [69] The music remains in this vein until the act ends with La musica'sritornello, a hint that the "power of music" may yet bring about a triumph over death.[70] Monteverdi's instructions asthe act concludes are that the violins, the organ and harpsichord become silent and that the music is taken up by thetrombones, the cornetts and the regal, as the scene changes to the Underworld.[69]

L'Orfeo 10

The centrepiece of Act 3, perhaps of the entire opera, is Orfeo's extended aria "Possente spirto e formidabil nume"("Mighty spirit and powerful divinity"), by which he attempts to persuade Caronte to allow him to enter Hades.Monteverdi's vocal embellishments and virtuoso accompaniment provide what Carter describes as "one of the mostcompelling visual and aural representations" in early opera.[71] Instrumental colour is provided by a chitarrone, apipe-organ, two violins, two cornetts and a double-harp. This array, according to music historian and analyst JohnWhenham, is intended to suggest that Orfeo is harnessing all the available forces of music to support his plea.[72] InAct 4 the impersonal coldness of the Underworld is broken by the warmth of Proserpina's singing on behalf of Orfeo,a warmth that is retained until the dramatic moment at which Orfeo "looks back". The cold sounds of the sinfoniafrom the beginning of Act 3 then remind us that the Underworld is, after all, entirely devoid of human feeling.[69]

The brief final act, which sees Orfeo's rescue and metamorphosis, is framed by the final appearance of La musica'sritornello and the lively moresca that ends the opera. This dance, says Ringer, recalls the jigs danced at the end ofShakespeare's tragedies, and provides a means of bringing the audience back to their everyday world, "just as thetoccata had led them into another realm some two hours before. The toccata and the moresca unite courtly realitywith operatic illusion."[73]

Recording historyFor the complete discography, see L'Orfeo discography

The first recording of L'Orfeo was issued in 1939, a freely adapted version of Monteverdi's music by GiacomoBenvenuti,[74] given by the orchestra of La Scala Milan conducted by Ferrucio Calusio.[75] [76] In 1949, for therecording of the complete opera by the Berlin Radio Orchestra under Helmut Koch, the new medium of long-playingrecords (LPs) was used. The advent of LP recordings was, as Harold Schonberg later wrote, an important factor inthe postwar revival of interest in Renaissance and Baroque music,[77] and from the mid-1950s recordings of L'Orfeohave been issued on many labels. The 1969 recording by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Vienna Concentus Musicus,using Harnoncourt's edition based on period instruments, was praised for "making Monteverdi's music soundsomething like the way he imagined".[78] In 1981 Siegfried Heinrich, with the Early Music Studio of the HesseChamber Orchestra, recorded a version which re-created the original Striggio libretto ending, adding music fromMonteverdi's 1616 ballet Tirsi e Clori for the Bacchante scenes.[79] [80] Among more recent recordings, that ofEmmanuelle Haim in 2004 has been praised for its dramatic effect.[81]

EditionsAfter the publication of the L'Orfeo score in 1609, the same publisher (Ricciardo Amadino of Venice) brought it outagain in 1615. Facsimiles of these editions were printed in 1927 and 1972 respectively.[44] Since Eitner's first"modern" edition of L'Orfeo in 1884, and d'Indy's performing edition 20 years later—both of which were abridgedand adapted versions of the 1609 score—there have been many attempts to edit and present the work, not all of thempublished. Most of the editions that followed d'Indy up to the time of the Second World War were arrangements,usually heavily truncated, that provided a basis for performances in the modern opera idiom. Many of these were thework of composers, including Carl Orff (1923 and1939) and Ottorino Respighi in 1935.[34] Orff's 1923 score, using aGerman text, included some period instrumentation, an experiment he abandoned when producing his laterversion.[82]

In the post-war period, editions have moved increasingly to reflect the performance conventions of Monteverdi's day. This tendency was initiated by two earlier editions, that of Jack Westrup used in the 1925 Oxford performances,[83]

and Gian Francesco Malipiero's 1930 complete edition which sticks closely to Monteverdi's 1609 original.[83] After the war, Hindemith's attempted period reconstruction of the work[53] was followed in 1955 by an edition from August Wenzinger that remained in use for many years.[84] The next 30 years saw numerous editions, mostly prepared by scholar-performers rather than by composers, generally aiming towards authenticity if not always the complete re-creation of the original instrumentation. These included versions by Raymond Leppard (1965), Denis

L'Orfeo 11

Stevens (1967), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1969), Jane Glover (1975), Roger Norrington (1976) and John EliotGardiner.[34] [85] Only the composers Valentino Bucchi (1967), Bruno Maderna (1967) and Luciano Berio (1984)produced editions based on the convention of a large modern orchestra.[83] In the 21st century editions continue to beproduced, often for use in conjunction with a particular performance or recording.[34] [44]

Notes and referencesNotes[1] Carter, Tim (2007). "Monteverdi, Claudio: Cremona" (http:/ / www. oxfordmusiconline. com/ public/ ). In Macy, Laura (ed.). Oxford Music

Online. . Retrieved 4 September 2010.(subscription required) See note (1) below[2] Fenlon, Iain, "The Mantuan Orfeo" pp. 5–7[3] Carter, Tim (2007). "Monteverdi, Claudio: Mantua" (http:/ / www. oxfordmusiconline. com/ public/ ). In Macy, Laura (ed.). Oxford Music

Online. . Retrieved 4 September 2010.(subscription required) See note (1) below[4] The Florentine Camerata, led by Giovanni de' Bardi, was a group of scholars and musicians dedicated to the revival of Ancient Greek-style

theatre, mainly active in the 1570s and 1580s. Later groups with similar aims are also loosely referred to as "Camerata".Ringer, pp. 12–13[5] Fenlon, "The Mantuan Orfeo" pp. 1–4[6] Sternfeld, p. 26[7] Ringer, pp. 30–31[8] Ringer, p. 16[9] Carter (2002), p. 38[10] Hanning, Barbara (2007). "Striggio, Alessandro (Alessandrino)" (http:/ / www. oxfordmusiconline. com/ public/ ). In Macy, Laura (ed.).

Oxford Music Online. . Retrieved 5 September 2010.(subscription required) See note (1) below[11] Carter (2002), p. 48[12] Fenlon, "Correspondence" pp. 167–72[13] Sternfeld, pp. 20–25[14] Sternfeld, pp. 27–30[15] Tomlinson, Gary (1981). "Madrigal, Monody, and Monteverdi's "via actuale alla imitatione"" (http:/ / www. jstor. org/ pss/ 831035). Journal

of the American Musicological Society 34 (1). . Retrieved 11 September 2010.(subscription required)[16] Ringer, pp. 39–40[17] Pirrotta, pp. 258–59[18] Carter (2002), pp. 143–44[19] Harnoncourt, p. 19[20] Donington, p. 257[21] Robinson, p. 61[22] Harnoncourt, p. 20[23] Whenham (1986), pp. 42–47[24] Glover, pp. 139–41[25] Glover, p. 142[26] Beat, pp. 277–78[27] Beat, pp. 280–81[28] Harnoncourt, p. 21[29] Glover, pp. 146–48[30] Fenlon, "The Mantuan Orfeo" pp. 11–15[31] Redlich, p. 15[32] Carter (2002), pp. 97–98[33] Monteverdi's 1609 score does not specify voice parts, but indicates the required ranges by clef.Zanette, Damian H. (February 2007). "Notes

to the transcription of the 1609 Venetian score of L'Orfeo" (http:/ / icking-music-archive. org/ scores/ download. php?file=monteverdi/ orfeo/notas. pdf). Icking Musical Archive. . Retrieved 22 September 2010. In the early productions the principal "high voice" parts were sung bycastrati. Modern productions have generally allocated the parts to soprano, alto, tenor and bass singers. See Carter (2002), pp. 91–97, Glover,pp. 146–48.

[34] Whenham, John (2007). "Orfeo (i)" (http:/ / www. oxfordmusiconline. com/ public/ ). In Macy, Laura (ed.). Oxford Music Online. .Retrieved 12 September 2010.(subscription required) See note (2) below

[35] English translations quoted in the synopsis are from the version accompanying Nikolaus Harnoncourt's 1969 recording.Harnoncourt, pp.73–96

[36] The pun (Speranza means "hope") in this quotation from Inferno by Dante Alighieri can be considered, according to John Whenham, as a"learned witticism" on Striggio's part.Whenham (1986), p. 66

[37] Whenham (1986), pp. 35–40[38] Palisca, p. 39

L'Orfeo 12

[39] Ringer, p. 36[40] Fenlon, "The Mantuan Orfeo" pp. 17–19[41] Carter (2002), pp. 3–5[42] "Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia" (http:/ / www. amadeusonline. net/ almanacco. php?Start=0& Giorno=& Mese=& Anno=& Giornata=&

Testo=L'Orfeo& Parola=Stringa). Amadeusonline. . Retrieved 26 October 2009.(Italian)[43] There may also have been a revival in Paris in 1832.[44] Fortune and Whenham, "Modern editions and performances" pp. 173–181[45] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" pp. 80–81[46] Carter (2002), p. 6[47] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" p. 84[48] Rolland, pp. 124–25[49] Whenham (1986), p. 196[50] Howes, Frank (1 June 1924). "Notes on Monteverdi's Orfeo" (http:/ / www. jstor. org/ pss/ 913262). The Musical Times. . Retrieved 16

September 2010.(subscription required)[51] Hussey, Dyneley (19 December 1925). "Monteverdi at Oxford" (http:/ / myweb. tiscali. co. uk/ scribe/ Oxford-1925. pdf). The Saturday

Review (London): p. 735. . Retrieved 14 September 2010.[52] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" p. 104[53] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" p. 105[54] Schonberg, Harold C. (30 September 1960). "2 Works Sung as City Opera Starts Year" (http:/ / select. nytimes. com/ gst/ abstract.

html?res=F30811FE3C551A7A93C2AA1782D85F448685F9& scp=13& sq=Monteverdi+ Orfeo& st=p). The New York Times. . Retrieved 14September 2010.(subscription required)

[55] Riding, Alan (2007). "400 years on, Opera Looks to the Next Act" (http:/ / www. publicbroadcasting. net/ michigan/ . artsmain/ article/ 12/1083/ 1045382/ 400. Years. on. . Opera. Looks. to. the. Next. Act. / ). Michigan Radio. . Retrieved 15 September 2010.

[56] Pettit, Stephen (22 March 2007). "The Power of Orfeo" (http:/ / www. prospectmagazine. co. uk/ 2007/ 03/ thepoweroforfeo/ ). Prospect(132). . Retrieved 15 September 2010.

[57] Tomassini, Anthony (7 August 2007). "Four Trips to Hell and Back at the Opera" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2007/ 08/ 07/ arts/ music/07glim. htm). The New York Times. . Retrieved 1 October 2010.

[58] "Monteverdi's Orfeo" (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ programmes/ b00s7dkc). British Broadcasting Corporation, Radio 3. 6 May 2010. .Retrieved 15 September 2010.

[59] For example, as of 2010 the opera remains unstaged at New York Met, the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne. "Operas performed1934–2010" (http:/ / www. glyndebourne. com/ archive/ productions/ glyndebourne_festival_operas_performed/ ). Glyndebourne FestivalOpera. . Retrieved 15 September 2010. "Royal Opera House Collections" (http:/ / www. rohcollections. org. uk/ SearchResults.aspx?searchtype=workprodperf& title=L'Orfeo). The Royal Opera House. . Retrieved 15 September 2010.

[60] "Les Arts Florissants" (http:/ / www. barbican. org. uk/ music/ event-detail. asp?id=8520& pg=1729). Barbican.org. . Retrieved 30 October2009.

[61] Redlich, p. 99[62] Ringer, pp. 27–28[63] Palisca, pp. 40–42[64] Grout, pp. 53–55[65] Hull, Robert H. (15 September 1929). "The Development of Harmony" (http:/ / myweb. tiscali. co. uk/ scribe/

Monteverdi-Development-of-harmony. pdf). The School Music Review: pp. 111. . Retrieved 17 September 2010.[66] Westrup, Jack (1940). "Monteverdi and the Orchestra" (http:/ / ml. oxfordjournals. org/ content/ XXI/ 3/ 230. extract). The Musical Times 21

(3). . Retrieved 17 September 2010.(subscription required)[67] Redlich, p. 97[68] Grout, p. 56[69] Harnoncourt, pp. 24–25[70] Ringer, pp. 63–64[71] Carter, Tim (1993). "Possento spirto: on taming the power of music" (http:/ / em. oxfordjournals. org/ content/ XXI/ 4/ 517. extract). Early

Music 21 (4). . Retrieved 17 September 2010.(subscription required)[72] Whenham (1986), p. 68[73] Ringer, p. 89[74] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" p. 93[75] "Continental Record Issues" (http:/ / www. gramophone. net/ Issue/ Page/ June 1944/ 17/ 857239/ HIS+ MASTERS+ VOICE). Gramophone

(London: Haymarket). June 1944. . Retrieved 18 September 2010.[76] "Monteverdi – L'Orfeo – Milan 1939 – Calusio" (http:/ / www. amazon. co. uk/ Monteverdi-LOrfeo-Milan-1939-Calusio/ dp/

B0003021NG/ ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8& s=music& qid=1284584924& sr=1-1). Amazon.co.uk. . Retrieved 15 September 2010.[77] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" p. 109[78] Arnold, Denis (March 1970). "Monteverdi: L'Orfeo complete" (http:/ / www. gramophone. net/ Issue/ Page/ March 1970/ 80/ 780424/

MONTEVERDI. + LOrfeo�complete. ). Gramophone (London: Haymarket). . Retrieved 18 September 2010.

L'Orfeo 13

[79] Arnold, Denis (March 1982). "Monteverdi: L'Orfeo" (http:/ / www. gramophone. net/ Issue/ Page/ March 1982/ 89/ 763364/MONTEVERDI. + LORFEO. + Joachim+ Seipp+ (ten)+ Orfeo+ Melinda+ Liebermann+ (sop)+ Euridice+ Rosemarie+ Biihler+ (sop)+Music,+ Hope+ Rochelle+ Travis+ (sop)+ Nymph,+ Proserpina+ Heide+ BlankeRoeser+ (sop)+ Messenger+ Uwe+ Bliesch+ (bass)+ Charon+Cornelius+ Hauptmann+ (bass)+ Pluto+ Erwin+ Speen+ (ten)+ Apollo,+ Echo,+ Shepherd,+ Spirit+ Axel+ Reichardt,+ David+ Adams+(tens)+ Shepherds,+ Spirits+ Frankfurt+ Madrigal+ Ensemble+ Bad+ Hersfeld+ Festival+ 1980+ Choir+ and+ Orchestra+ Early+ Music+Studio+ of+ the+ Hesse+ Chamber+ Orchestra+ + Siegfried+ Heinrich. + Jubilate+ JU858102+ (three+ records,+ nas,+ £14. 50). + German+notes,+ text+ and+ translation+ included. ). Gramophone (London: Haymarket). . Retrieved 18 September 2010.

[80] Whenham (1986), p. 204[81] Ringer, p. 311[82] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" pp. 90–91[83] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" pp. 96–102[84] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" p. 107[85] Fortune, "The rediscovery of Orfeo" pp. 110–18

References• (1) A printed version of this source is available in Sadie, Stanley, and Tyrrell, John (eds) (2001). The New Grove

Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Second edition). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 1-56159-239-0.• (2) A printed version of this source is available in Sadie, Stanley (ed.) (2004). The New Grove Dictionary of

Opera. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-01952-2186-2.

Sources• Beat, Janet E. (1968). "Monteverdi and the Opera Orchestra of his Time" in Arnold, Denis and Fortune, Nigel

(eds): The Monteverdi Companion. London: Faber and Faber.• Carter, Tim (2002). Monteverdi's Musical Theatre. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09676-3.• Donington, Robert (1968). "Monteverdi's First Opera" in Arnold, Denis and Fortune, Nigel (eds): The Monteverdi

Companion. London: Faber and Faber.• Fenlon, Ian (1986). "The Mantuan Orfeo" in Whenham, John (ed.): Claudio Monteverdi: Orfeo. Cambridge,

England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24148.• Fenlon, Ian (1986). "Correspondence relating to the early Mantuan performances" in Whenham, John (ed.):

Claudio Monteverdi: Orfeo. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24148.• Fortune, Nigel (1986). "The rediscovery of Orfeo" in Whenham, John (ed.): Claudio Monteverdi: Orfeo.

Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24148.• Fortune, Nigel; Whenham, John (1986). "Modern editions and performances" in Whenham, John (ed.): Claudio

Monteverdi: Orfeo. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24148.• Glover, Jane (1986). "Solving the musical problem" in Whenham, John (ed.): Claudio Monteverdi: Orfeo.

Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24148.• Grout, Donald Jay (1971). A Short History of Opera. New York: Columbia University Press.

ISBN 0-231-08978-3.• Harnoncourt, Nikolaus (1969). "Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo: An Introduction" (in notes accompanying

TELDEC recording 8.35020 ZA). Hamburg: Teldec Schallplatten GmbH.• Palisca, Claude V. (1981). Baroque Music. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-055947-4.• Pirrotta, Nino (1984). Music and Culture in Italy from the Middle Ages to the Baroque. Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press. ISBN 0-674-59108-9.• Redlich, Hans (1952). Claudio Monteverdi: Life and Works. London: Oxford University Press.• Ringer, Mark (2006). Opera's First Master: The Musical Dramas of Claudio Monteverdi. Newark, N.J.: Amadeus

Press. ISBN 1-57467-110-3.• Robinson, Michael F. (1972). Opera before Mozart. London: Hutchinson & Co. ISBN 0-09-080421-X.• Rolland, Romain; Perkins, Wendy (tr.) (1986). "A review of Vincent d'Indy's performance (Paris 1904)" in

Whenham, John (ed.): Claudio Monteverdi: Orfeo. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-24148.

L'Orfeo 14

• Sternfeld, F.W. (1986). "The Orpheus myth and the libretto of Orfeo" in Whenham, John (ed.): ClaudioMonteverdi: Orfeo. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24148.

• Whenham, John (1986). "Five acts, one action" in Claudio Monteverdi: Orfeo. London: Cambridge UniversityPress. ISBN 0-521-24148.

Further reading• Fabbri, Paolo (1994). Monteverdi. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-35133-2.• Neef, Sigrid (ed.) (2000). Opera: Composers, Works, Performers (English edition). Cologne: Könemann.

ISBN 3-8290-3571-3.• Sadie, Stanley (ed.) (2004). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Opera. London: Flame Tree Publishing.

ISBN 1-84451-026-3.

External links• L'Orfeo libretto in English translation (http:/ / www. opera-guide. ch/ libretto. php?id=226& uilang=de& lang=en)

Article Sources and Contributors 15

Article Sources and ContributorsL'Orfeo  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=389886998  Contributors: 4meter4, Alanmaher, Altenmann, Andres, Andrew w munro, AndrewHowse, Annlanding, Antandrus,Apdevries, Arria Belli, Bertport, Brianboulton, BrownHairedGirl, Burnedthru, Caesura, Catalographer, Catgut, CenturionZ 1, Chaser, Cielomobile, CommonsDelinker, Dabomb87, Daniel563,Dhzanette, DrG, Ed g2s, Edofedinburgh, EldKatt, Eroica, Francesco Malipiero, Ganymead, GreatWhiteNortherner, GuillaumeTell, Gveret Tered, Hmains, Ixfd64, Jackyd101, JerryFriedman,Jmundo, John Whenham, Jonathan.s.kt, Kleinzach, LiniShu, Linuxlad, MER-C, MartinDK, Michael Bednarek, Michael Devore, Moreschi, Moreschi(AWB), Morwen, Nfrankchase, NickMichael, Nikkimaria, Ninjaman3, Nunh-huh, OctagonJoe, Pearle, Renato Caniatti, Rigaudon, Rookkey, Rsholmes, Sidneyyin, Sietse Snel, Simone, Singingdaisies, Sluzzelin, TexasAndroid,Thomas Gebhardt, Tim riley, Tony1, Trisdee, Twpsyn Pentref, Ucucha, Vanished user, Voceditenore, Wehwalt, Whjayg, William Avery, Woohookitty, X42bn6, 63 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Frans Pourbus d. J. 006.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Frans_Pourbus_d._J._006.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: User:Cropbot, User:G.dallorto,User:GryffindorFile:Cesare Gennari Orfeo.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cesare_Gennari_Orfeo.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Arianna, Brianboulton, JappalangFile:Frontispiece of L'Orfeo.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Frontispiece_of_L'Orfeo.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)File:Orfeo libretto instruments characters.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Orfeo_libretto_instruments_characters.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)File:Mantua2 BMK.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mantua2_BMK.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0  Contributors: User:BMKFile:Vincent d'Indy.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vincent_d'Indy.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Brianboulton, Calliopejen1, Jappalang, Katpatuka,Kelson, MuFile:Orfeo libretto prologue.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Orfeo_libretto_prologue.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)

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