Orfeo (Orpheus) is an opera in three acts, a prologue and an epilogue by the Italian composer Luigi Rossi. The libretto, by Francesco Buti, is based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orfeo was first performed at the Palais-Cardinal, Paris on 2 March 1647. It was one of the earliest operas to be staged in France.
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Rossi had already written one opera, Il palazzo incantato, for Rome. This aroused the interest of Cardinal Mazarin, then regent for the young king of France Louis XIV, who was eager to bring Italian culture to Paris. In 1646 Mazarin hired Rossi to write an opera for the Paris carnival the following year. During his stay in France, Rossi learnt that his wife, Costanza, had died and the grief he felt influenced the music he was writing. The premiere was given a magnificent staging, with scenery by Giovan Battista Balbi. It required 200 men to work the theatrical machinery, designed by Giacomo Torelli. The performance, which lasted six hours, was a triumph. However, Rossi proved to be a victim of his own success. The expense of the performance was just one of many reasons stoking popular discontent against Cardinal Mazarin which soon broke out into full-scale rebellion (the Fronde). When Rossi returned to Paris in December, 1647, he found his patron had fled and his services were no longer required.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Orfeo/La vittoria (Orpheus/Victory) | castrato (contralto) | Atto Melani |
| Euridice (Eurydice) | soprano | Anna Francesca Costa |
| Aristeo (Aristaeus) | castrato (soprano) | Marc'Antonio Pasqualini |
| Giove (Jupiter) | tenor | Jacopo Melani |
| Giunone (Juno) | soprano | Margherita Costa |
| Pluto/Augure (an augur) | bass | Alessandro Cecconi |
| Proserpina (Proserpine) | castrato (soprano, travesti) | Domenico Dal Pane |
| Himeneo/Sospetto (Hymenaeus/Suspicion) | castrato (soprano) | Marc'Antonio Sportonio |
| Caronte (Charon) | tenor | Venanzio Leopardi |
| Amore (Cupid) | soprano | |
| Venere (Venus) | soprano | Rosina Martini |
| Endimione (Endymion) | tenor | |
| Momo (Momus) | tenor | |
| Bacco (Bacchus) | soprano (breeches role) | |
| Satiro (satyr) | baritone[1] | |
| Nutrice (nurse) | castrato (soprano, travesti)[2] | |
| La gelosia (Jealousy) | contralto | |
| Mercurio (Mercury) | castrato (contralto) | |
| Apollo | castrato (contralto) | |
| Una vecchia (old woman) | tenor (travesti) | |
| Le grazie the three Graces | sopranos | Marc'Antonio Sportonio, Domenico Dal Pane,[3] (not reported) |
| Le parche (the three Parcae) | two sopranos and one contralto | Marc'Antonio Sportonio, Domenico Dal Pane,[3] (not reported) |
The French armies win a glorious battle. Victory predicts France will triumph over evil just as Orpheus triumphed over the powers of the underworld.
Orpheus and Eurydice are due to be married. But when Eurydice's father, Endymion, takes auguries they forebode trouble. Aristaeus is unhappily in love with Eurydice and calls on the goddess Venus for aid. She tells him the marriage cannot be stopped but she will do her best to seduce Orpheus and Eurydice away from one another. As the wedding takes place, the torches suddenly go out, another evil omen.
Venus, dressed as an old woman, tries to persuade Eurydice to love Aristaeus, but she is inflexible. Cupid betrays his mother, Venus's, schemes to Orpheus and he rushes off to warn Eurydice. But Eurydice is bitten by a snake as she is dancing and dies.
The grieving Orpheus sets off to rescue Eurydice from the underworld. Eurydice's ghost drives Aristaeus mad and he commits suicide. The goddess Juno persuades Proserpine, the wife of Pluto (the king of the underworld), that she should be jealous of Eurydice's beauty and allow her to return to the land of the living with Orpheus. Proserpine persuades Pluto to release Eurydice and he does so on condition that Orpheus does not turn round to look at her before they have reached the upper world. Orpheus fails in this task and loses Eurydice again. In his grief, he seeks only death but Jupiter appears to tell him he, Eurydice and his lyre will be turned into constellations.
Mercury explains that Orpheus's lyre represents the fleur-de-lys of France. The transformation of Orpheus and Eurydice into constellations is a symbol of the Resurrection. He ends by wishing the young King Louis a long life.