11.06.2022

GEORG NIGL in the role of Orfeo at the Vienna State Opera

When it comes to the power of music, Orpheus has been invoked for more than two thousand years – the singer who descended into Hades, all the way to Proserpina, goddess of the underworld. There, he sang his lament, touching the heart of the wife of the dark ruler of the realm of the dead to such an extent that he was allowed to take his great love, Eurydice, back to the world of the living. Saved rather than prosecuted. If only – if only he hadn’t turned his head to look at her, thereby foregoing all hope of a life of love.

On June 11, 2022, Claudio Monteverdi’s “favola in musica” L’Orfeo premieres at the Vienna State Opera. Tom Morris directs this new production. Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the Concentus Musicus Vienna, and the Austrian baritone Georg Nigl sings the title role. Georg Nigl has won loyal followers among audience and reviewers with his passionate and authentic performances, whether as a celebrated Wozzeck at La Scala in Milan, in Rihm’s Jakob Lenz in Brussels and Aix-en-Provence or as Orfeo – one of his favourite roles.

Claudio Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Georg Nigl, Orfeo
Slávka Zámecníková, Euridice
Kate Lindsey, La Musica / La Speranza
Christina Bock, Messaggiera / Proserpina
Andrea Mastroni, Plutone

Concentus Musicus Wien
Pablo Heras-Casado, musical direction
Tom Morris, stage direction
Anna Fleischle, stage & costumes
James Farncombe, light
Finn Ross, video
Jane Gibson, choreographer