OrpheusEurydice1.0141

OrpheusEurydice1.0141_Gluck

A man and woman perform on a stage with a TV, text reads "Even one look means disaster

Particularly innovative in Calzabigi’s libretto is the portrayal of marital fatigue that Orpheus and Eurydice experience almost instantly after her rescue: What does it avail her to have been rescued from the after-life if she can have nothing of the prior affection Orpheus might have been inclined to lavish upon her?

In the H. Kupfer production, the most innovative portions of Gluck’s production (and Kupfer’s) are at minutes 50–56. The duet is “O voi, ombre felici” (chapter 11). Since Orfeo cannot explain why he must ignore her, Eurydice is led eventually to lament: “Non m’abbracci? Non parli? Guardami almen.” (You don't hug me? You don't speak? At least look at me.) “Have you lost your constancy and your faith?... Why, then, did you awake me from my sweet slumber?” These sentiments are not far from the surface in Sarah Ruhl's stirring Eurydice.

RTM's reading notes from P. Howard, ed., C.W. Gluck: Orfeo (Cambridge UP, 1982): OGCMA0788OrpheusEurydice_Gluck