| Monteverdi, Claudio (1567-1643) | L'Orfeo (Orpheus), SV318 (reimagined with South Asian and western artists) |
| Opera North | ||
| Laurence Cummings | Conductor | |
| Anna Himali Howard | Director | |
| Leslie Travers | Set Designer, Costume Designer | |
| Jackie Shemesh | Lighting Designer | |
| Jasdeep Singh Degun | Sitar, Musical director | |
| Nicholas Watts | Tenor | Orfeo (Orpheus) |
| Ashnaa Sasikaran | Vocals | Euridice (Eurydice) |
| Chandra Chakraborty | Vocals | Proserpina (Proserpine) |
| Yarlinie Thanabalasingam | Mezzo-soprano | La speranza (Hope) |
| Dean Robinson | Bass | Plutone (Pluto) |
| Kezia Bienek | Mezzo-soprano | La messaggiera (Messenger) |
| Amy Freston | Soprano | La musica (Music) |
| Xavier Hetherington | Tenor | Pastore 1 (Shepherd 1) |
| Kirpal Singh Panesar | Vocals | Apollo |
| Kaviraj Singh | Vocals | Caronte (Charon) |
The story begins with the wedding of Orpheus – a musician of mythical power – to Eurydice. But the celebrations are cut brutally short by Eurydice’s sudden death. This is a grief too great for Orpheus to bear, and he resolves to do anything he can to return her to life.
Monteverdi is often credited with inventing opera in this experimental ‘fable in music’, which both celebrates and demonstrates the transcendent power of music to touch the heart and express the deepest human emotions of love and grief.
Honouring Monteverdi’s pioneering spirit, this new version of Orpheus is born of a union of uniquely talented singers and musicians from both the South Asian and western classical traditions, who invite us to join them in a thrilling reimagining of a beautiful baroque masterpiece.
Multilingual with English titles