Search - Stefano Landi, Stephen Stubbs, David Cordier :: Stefano Landi: La Morte d'Orfeo

Valuable document on the history of 17th century opera

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 08/23/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The tiny Belgian independent label Accent specializes in period instrument performances from the Low Countries, and in 1987 recorded this Dutch/English production of Stefano Landi's "Tragicomedia pastorale" at the St. Gilles Church in Brugges, Belgium. In order to appreciate the value of this disc, you have to know something of the background: The Orpheus legend was one of the best-loved subjects for early opera at the beginning of the 17th century. The most famous version was written by Alessandro Striggio and set to music by Claudio Monteverdi at Mantua, but there were other versions around at the same time by lesser known composers such as Peri and Caccini. Stefano Landi, who was born in Rome but moved as a young man to Padua, turned to this legendary story in 1619, but instead of re-working the old story about the death of Euridice, he opted to compose an opera on the sequel, the death of Orpheus at the hand of the Maenads, servants of Bacchus, who were incited to murder him by Bacchus himself because he had not invited this god of wine and surfeiting to his birthday party!



In order to turn this story into a five-act opera, the librettist Alessandro Matthei introduces a total of over thirty mythical figures including not only gods and heavenly messengers, shepherds and satyrs, but also winds and a river - these last have quite extensive sung parts! This is very different from Monteverdi's version. As far as the composition itself goes, it consists, like Monteverdi's later operas, almost exclusively of recitative, interrupted occasionally by duets, terzets or choral interludes. The musical background is provided mainly by a continuo force of organ, lirone, harp and lute, occasionally complemented by violins or cornets.



Director Stephen Stubbs, who also plays the chitarrone (a type of guitar), has tried to create a "historical" performance, although in fact it is doubtful whether La Morte d'Orfeo was ever performed during the composer's lifetime. This means that he not only uses historical instruments but also that his singers are, with two exceptions, all male, a total of ten roles being played by the two star countertenors David Cordier and Michael Chance. If you don't like very high male voices (Cordier could be taken for a soprano!), avoid this CD-box like the plague! But if you enjoy historically "authentic" singing, then there is much to enjoy here: Cordier and Chance were, at the time of the recording, coryphaei of countertenor.



Of course, the fact that practically all the singers except John Elwes as Orpheus have to sing up to five parts makes pretty confusing listening, and I found it necessary to refer constantly to the booklet. Elwes himself sings well, but his performance seems to me to be overshadowed by that of the two countertenors and by bass Harry Van der Kamp, whose performance as the River Hebros, as Furore and, in particular, as Charon in the underworld left a lasting impression. The other singers all do well without being particularly outstanding; Johanna Koslowsky has some poignant moments, especially in the last act where she plays the shade of Euridice, who has lost all memory of Orpheus. Of course, this is historical performance practice, so there is practically no vibrato to be heard anywhere. The instruments sound wonderful, and there is some excellent cornet playing by Bruce Dickey and Doron David Sherwin in the first act.



Accent makes no attempt to facilitate access to this more or less unknown work. The booklet contains a helpful, but extremely brief introduction by Professor Silke Leopold, a synopsis of the action that reduces whole acts to two sentences, and the libretto in 17th century Italian only without any attempts at translation. It should perhaps also be added that the times stated for the various tracks are often unreliable, making it impossible for me to give the production anything but an average evaluation. The sound, too, is not anything to write home about - adequate, yes, but the voices are often muffled, and there is too much echoing in the empty church recording venue.



But there is, as far as I know, no rival recording, so if you are interested in early 17th century opera or in the history of the musical development of the Orpheus legend, you should go for this CD-box despite its limitations."

A voice teacher and early music fan

George Peabody | Planet Earth | 01/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"LANDI'S LUSCIOUS SCORE; UNIQUE AND REFRESHING!!!!

Stefano Landi(ca.1590-1655) called 'La Morte d'Orfeo' a pastoral tragic-comedy. However, in constrast to the previous pastoral fables of Peri,Caccini and Monteverdi, Landi imparted a new quality to the evolution of opera. For the first time in the history of opera, the comic element plays no small part. Example: Caronte, the ferryman of the underworld, is from start to finish a comic character, who offers the waters of Lethe with a jolly drinking song on his lips. These comic scenes contrast with the tragic moments to increase their intensity, such as the recitative between Orpheus and his mother Calliope.



The conception of Landi's opera differs from all other works that focused on the triumph of love over death. Instead it focuses on the second half of the classic Orpheus myth. Euridice's death, the divine singer's failed attempt to win her back, as well as his vow to forsake women, have already taken place. Now Orpheus is to celebrate his birthday amidst the gods. Upset by his vow to forsake women Bacchus orders the Maenads to murder Orpheus but Jupiter takes him to heaven as a demi-god.



The role of Orfeo is written for a tenor (John Elwes). Otherwise, the opera is written in five short acts and has eighteen brief roles. Of the seven sopranos, six are female roles and one male role. Bacchus and Mercury sing in an alto/tenor range. The rest of the casting calls for four tenors in male roles and four basses, one of whom is Caronte. A basso continuo ensemble if joined in the ritornellos by equal treble instruments, minimally two solo violins, and there are no independent instrumental pieces. Many vocal ensembles enliven the score, such as the three Euretti (southern breezes) set for two sopranos and alto, a double quartet of satyrs, and a quartet of vengeful maenids. Each act closes with a chorus, the largest of which includes a double quartet. The solo vocal and choral requirements are designed so that the singers could perform multiple roles.



We do not know for what occasion or patron this score was produced, or who or when or if it was ever staged. The sole surviving copy of the original edition (Venice: Bartolomew Magni. stampa del Gardano, 1619) was owned by the Borghese family, who sold it to the British Library early in the last century.



Since there are no liner notes with these discs, one must read the synopsis that is included in the accompanying information, but there is no English translation of the libretto; it is in Italian, so to try to follow specifically is not possible(unless you are fluent in that language) but the emotional interpretation of the singers is a great help; however, I don't think that is the best way to approach this work. Don't dig too deeply for meaning in this "opera". It's got too many characterizations to keep tabs on, so why bother to do so???



The singers handle their various and numerous parts skillfully and dramatically correct. The 2 countertenors (Chance & Cordier) had many different parts to portray and frankly I couldn't care less about who they were portraying for their voices were glorious! In addition, the voices of John Elwes (tenor) as Orpheus, Nico Van der Meel(tenor) in two voice parts, Harry van der Kamp (bass) in 3 voice parts and Johanna Koslowsky (soprano) in two voice parts to name a few made the recording all the more enjoyable. And mention must be made of the excellent accompanying ensemble Tragicomedia, always reliable and skilled in most everything they play.



If you want to enjoy music just for Music's sake then you will get much listening enjoyment from this disc. With its motley scenes and rapid twists in the plot, its rich contrasts of musical form and the splendid vocal beauty of the choruses at the end of the acts, "La Morte d'Orfeo" is perhaps the first opera to merit the description "baroque"."