Orpheus: From Myth to Stage

The aim of this thesis is to discover why the story of Orpheus and his voyage to the Underworld has become a popular subject for operatic composition and how the historical contexts of its use contribute to and benefit from this history. I chose to focus on two operas that came seven years apart and each hold particular historical significance. The first, Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, is known for being the first opera to survive complete, and the second, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, for its revolutionary musical characteristics and is the earliest opera still performed with any regularity today. I approached this topic by first researching the Orpheus myth and its journey throughout time, focusing particularly on its growth and change from the early days of the Roman Empire to when the first of the two operas was written and performed at the Medici wedding in 1600. I paid special attention to the historical contexts of the operas as ways to further explain the interpretational decisions made by the respective librettists. I then chose to focus on the events that take place from Orpheus’s descent into the Underworld until the conclusion of each opera. Through the historical context and the history of the myth, I was able to discuss how two operas based on the same myth could have such different endings. It also gives a partial explanation as to the trend of continued operatic interpretation of the myth from these beginnings to the present day.Bachelor of Art