Orpheus (Telemann)
Orpheus (full title: Die wunderbare Beständigkeit der Liebe oder Orpheus, The Wonderful Constancy of Love, or Orpheus) is an opera in three acts by the German composer Georg Philipp Telemann. It was first performed in a concert version at the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg on 9 March 1726. The anonymous libretto is based on the 1690 opera Orphée by Michel Duboullay, originally set by the French composer Louis Lully. Most of the work is in German but it also contains passages in French and Italian drawn from famous operas by Handel and Jean-Baptiste Lully. The music to these words is Telemann's own, however. The manuscript score of Telemann's Orpheus was not rediscovered until the late 20th century. Roles Synopsis Act 1 Queen Orasia of Thrace is in love with Orpheus, but he rejects her in favour of Eurydice. The queen plots to kill Eurydice as she is picking flowers in a garden. Orpheus tells his friend Eurimedes he is tired of life at Orasia's court and flees to the countryside. Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies in Orpheus's arms. Act 2 Orpheus descends to the underworld to rescue Eurydice. He charms the king of the underworld, Pluto,