Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo is a pivotal work in the history of the Baroque, bridging the gap between Venetian opera with its vocal virtuosity and the spectacle of French ballet. Commissioned by Cardinal Mazarin in 1646 to bring Italian style to the French court, it premiered in Paris in an elaborate staging and features a blend of tragic myth and – unusually for an Orpheus opera – comic elements. Spread over three-acts, it was the first opera to be officially staged in France. For these performances, Raphaël Pichon brings his acclaimed Ensemble Pygmalion to Adelaide for what should be a must-see event.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

The myth of Orpheus and his lost wife Eurydice grapples with the inescapable forces of love and death that define our existence. It has captured the imagination of composers, writers and audiences for millennia.

Highly sought after by Europe’s 17th century tastemakers, Italian composer Luigi Rossi was commissioned to write the first-ever opera for the French court while in exile in Paris. The result, his Orfeo, boasts some of the Baroque’s most sublime and original writing in a poignant blend of tragedy and comedy.

Rossi’s Orfeo was lost to the world for centuries. In this Australian premiere, rediscover this forgotten masterpiece brought to life with tenderness and passion, in a concert staging.