14.02.2024

OLIVIA VERMEULEN as Messaggera and Ninfa in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo with the FBO

Claudio Monteverdi made music history with his Orfeo. Although the work is not the first opera in music history (as is often assumed), the composer made a significant contribution to the development of the genre, if not the most significant. Monteverdi himself entitled his opera, which premiered in Mantua in 1607, a "Favola in Musica", i.e. a fable set to music in which text and words are of equal importance. The orchestra, which was lavishly scored for the time, no longer has a merely accompanying function, but also plays a role in the plot. In short: this is an epochal work that should not be missed!

The Dutch mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen has worked with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra for many years on a variety of projects, including Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. For the upcoming concerts in Paris, Barcelona, Berlin and Freiburg, she will now take on the role of Messaggera, among others.

Cast

Yannick Debus, Orfeo
Isabel Pfefferkorn, Euridice
Eva Zaïcik, Proserpina & una Ninfa
Olivia Vermeulen Silvia, la Messaggera & una Ninfa
Nikolay Borchev, Apollo & un Pastore
Raffaele Pe la Musica, la Speranza & un Pastore
Neil Davies, Plutone & un Pastore
Robert Gleadow, Caronte & un Pastore

René Jacobs Conductor
Zurich Singing Academy
Marco Amherd, choral rehearsals
Benoît de Leersnyder, Artistic Assistant
Serena Malcangi, pronunciation coach
Freiburger BarockConsort