蒙泰威尔第《奥菲欧》之首演

The Premiere of Monteverdi's Orfeo

1607年，时年40岁的克劳迪奥·乔瓦尼·蒙泰威尔第（Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi,1567-643）和妻子克劳迪娅以及两个孩子住在意大利北部城市曼图阿。

The elder son of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga asked Claudio Monteverdi to provide a ＂fable in music＂for his local learned academy.Its two performances were small local events,but the power of Orfeo＇s drama and the charm of its music have turned it into a timeless classic whose success would have astounded the few dozen Mantuan aristocrats present at the first performance.This article discusses Orpheus in music ,the city of Mantua ,music at court during Mouteverdi＇s time,the culture of Orfeo,poetry and music and first performance of Orfeo.The story of the singer Orpheus and the beautful Euridice can still charm us after four centuries after its creation,because it tells a universal story and does so with breathtakingly beautiful songs and speeches ,The revival and study of the learning of classical antiquity,thd humanism of the Renaissance,brought a sort of recitation so as to express the power of classical duama.Unlike modern grand operas ,Orfeo wsa more like a pastoral fable and a chamber opera,with a small scale,in a small,narrow room,instead of a theatre Orfeo had everything madrigals,choruses,scherzo musicali dances,a variety of instrumental colors,virtuoso singing and passionate,music in the new and highly expressive recitative style.