Inauguration 84th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival

Tuesday 12 April 2022 Florence's ancient opera festival opens with Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice in the Mehta Hall

 The 84th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival finally kicks off on April 12 at 8 p.m. Conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Chorus and Orchestra for the premiere of Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orphée et Euridice, the French edition of which has never been performed at the Maggio, will be Daniele Gatti, the Maggio's new principal conductor, with direction by Pierre Audi.  Anna Prohaska is Eurydice, Juan Francisco Gatell is Orphée and Sara Blanch is Amore. The choirmaster is Lorenzo Fratini. In the performance on 13 April the role of Orphée will be sung by Michele Angelini. 

Orphée et Euridice © Michele Monasta

TWO WORDS ON GLUCK'S ORPHEUS

Orphée et Euridice is the masterpiece by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Ranieri de' Calzabigi, and is the opera that revolutionised the history of musical theatre in the 18th century. The myth of Orpheus, which a century earlier, with Monteverdi, had marked the birth of opera in music, was revisited by Gluck in 1762 in search of a more modern dimension of narrative singing. The drastic reduction of frills and embellishments in favour of an expressive realism of facts and feelings was a real revolution at the time, in opposition to the spread of fashions and stereotypes that invited the narcissistic virtuosity of singers. Orpheus became a European success that brought back the power of theatre and restored value to music and words.

Orphée et Euridice © Michele Monasta

THE NOVELTY OF THIS PRODUCTION

On the wave of modernity, this staging, proposed for the opening of the Festival, dusts off the French edition of Gluck's Orpheus, even further forward. Daniele Gatti with the Orchestral del Maggio Musicale will not use original instruments nor will he follow baroque practices, but he will keep as much as possible to Gluck's will that in his revisiting of the opera, he enriches it in the instrumentation, modernizing it.

DATES

In addition to the premiere on 12 April at 8 p.m., four other performances are scheduled: 13, 19 and 21 April at 8 p.m. and 23 April at 5 p.m. 

THE FESTIVAL

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival, founded in 1933, is considered one of the oldest and most prestigious opera festivals in Europe. To learn more about its history click here.