ALL ARTS Channel Broadcast – Monteverdi’s Orpheus. September 24, 2020.

Original Performance Date: September, 2012, Berlin Komische Oper.

Story.  See writeup on Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.  In Gluck’s version Orpheus is successful in bringing Euridice out from hell.  In Monteverdi’s retelling, Euridice disappears when Orpheus looks back at her, and Orpheus “leaves the world” to go to the heavens so he can see her in the stars.

Conductor – Andre de Ridder; Orpheus – Dominik Koninger, Eurydike – Julia Novikova, Amor – Peter Renz, Sylvia/Proserpina – Theresa Kronthaler, Charon – Stefan Sevenic, Pluto – Alexey Antonov, Puppenspieler – Frank Soehnle.

Explanatory note and caveat: Per the ALL ARTS website, Komische Oper Berlin staged three of Monteverdi’s operas in one single day, including Orpheus.  Evidently the brainchild of the then new General Director Barry Kosky. The opera was translated into German, and the music was re-written to include both old and modern instruments (including the accordion).  A search of the internet yields various articles on this Komische Oper Berlin production, some on the original performance, and some on a more traditional run in a later year.

Some of the websites are listed below:

Komische Oper Berlin page on Orpheus

OperaCritic on Monteverdi Marathon

BachTrack review of Orpheus performed in 2013

Below are some screenshots from the Komische Oper Berlin website, and a YouTube video of the performance (which as far as I could tell was the one done at the Marathon):

These three screenshots are from the Komische Oper Berlin website.

One can find a performance of the opera as performed in the September 2012 Marathon on YouTube.  Credits at the beginning of the video.