Dance

Sasha Waltz & Guests

20 Nov, 22 - 24 Nov, 22

Artistic Director: Sasha Waltz

20 Nov 22

Premiere

24 Nov 22

Last performance

Shows

The first operatic experiments in history were conceived on the ambitious premise that –in the same way as with the legendary Orfeo- it was possible to tame human passions with the voice and music: instil happiness, sadness, or even more so, bring these face to face in an abrupt manner, as when the fateful messenger interrupts the wedding celebrations in the second act of this opera. It is not surprising, therefore, that the myth of the famous Thracian singer was the protagonist of some of the first titles in this genre.

The efficacy of these artifices not only concurred with Neoplatonic philosophy, based on order and the consonance of the universe: thanks to the genius of Monteverdi , the audience of that time discovered in L’Orfeo the alliance between theatre and singing was a dynamic to human experience of unexplored emotions and unknown intensity. The German choreographer Sasha Waltz takes on a similar challenge in her understanding of this founding work in the history of opera: the integration of the arts in a flowing continuo of seamless sound and movement, which can prevail – by way of harmony and geometry - over our own passions.

L’ORFEO

Music of Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Premiere at the Dutch National Opera. 3 September, 2014

A production of Sasha Waltz & Guests in collaboration with the Dutch National Opera Amsterdam, Grand Théatre du Luxembourg, Bergen International Festival and Opéra de Lille

L’Orfeo is supported by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes and the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin

Produced in Radialsystem®

Sasha Waltz & Guests is financed by Land Berlin

Artistic team

Conductor: Leonardo García Alarcón

Director and choreographer: Sasha Waltz

Stage design: Alexander Schwarz

Costume design: Bernd Skodzig

Lighting design: Martin Hauk

Video design: Tapio Snellman

Cast

Music / Euridice: Julie Roset