Cast
7 solo singers
l’arte del mondo (6 strings, lute)
Orfeo’s Band (6 musicians: keyboards, electric guitars/guitars, drums/percussion, electric bass, saxophone/clarinet)
Massimiliano Toni musical director, harpsichord, and organ
Werner Ehrhardt violin & artistic director
Jean-Paul Carradori lighting design and video projections
Oscar Mapelli sound engineer
Natalia Rubiś, Krystian Adam, Photo: peuserdesign.de
Is it possible to produce Monteverdi’s Favola in Musica in modern times and achieve the same breathtaking effect that audiences experienced 410 years ago?
Orfeo 2.0 – A BaRock Opera
The Music
La Favola di Orfeo was set to music for the first time by Claudio Monteverdi, whose birth in Cremona was celebrated for the 450th time in 2017. Massimiliano Toni’s 2017 arrangement of the magnificent work for Baroque ensemble, rock band and seven singers is radical, new, transcendent, yet, necessarily and inextricably linked to the original. Various styles can be heard amongst Monteverdi’s original melodies: rock, blues, funk, Caribbean rhythms, progressive rock and sometimes even experimental musical chaos.
Project Partners
The Staging
During the entire performance, a sound engineer is in control of the musical balance: the intention is by no means to present the audience with as much volume as possible, but rather to present the interplay of very different instruments and, above all, a transparent and comprehensible ensemble. Additionally, a perfectly coordinated lighting design helps to create an enchanting atmosphere almost bordering on the surreal.
With the help of visual projections, the staging of Orfeo 2.0 is aimed at functionality and the show is actually suitable for almost stage.
The Protagonists
Seven renowned singers, all specialized in Baroque music, give life to all the characters on stage. In the “orchestra pit”, the Baroque ensemble l’arte del mondo, lead by Werner Ehrhardt, joins forces with the Italian Orfeo’s Band, while Massimiliano Toni supervises the action on stage, as well as directing the entire production from the harpsichord.
