In season 2019-2020, OPERA2DAY joined forces with the Nederlandse Reisopera and Studio Drift for the production of “L'Orfeo” by Claudio Monteverdi. Hernán Schvartzman, (musical director of OPERA2DAY) conducted the production and together with Mike Fentross put together the orchestra of La Sfera Armoniosa. The musicians played on original instruments. Director Monique Wagemakers signed on to direct this opera about Orpheus descending into the underworld to bring his beloved Euridice back from the dead.

 

A familiar motif for OPERA2DAY; five years ago we used the story of Orpheus and Euridice for the opera “La troupe d'Orphée”. The design and installation are by Lonneke Gordijn (Studio Drift); the choreography is by Nanine Linning. Wagemakers: "Orfeo cannot let go of the pain and sorrow from the past, there is something that prevents him from experiencing happiness when it is there. The Orpheus story is also about us: sometimes we too want to turn back time and hold on to happiness."

 

The opera sings of the impermanence of the human kind and the eternity of art. The work opens with a prologue in which La Musica sings an ode to the extraordinary power of its art form. With the appearance of Apollo in the final scene, Monteverdi reinforces this statement. This opera shows that music is the quintessential art form that speaks directly to the soul and possesses the power to bring us mortals joy and solace in times of sorrow.