Homework Question on “Monteverdi’s Orfeo”
- Watch the following four YouTube clips of performances of “Tu se’ morta” from Monteverdi’s Orfeo (when Orfeo learns of Euridice’s death).
- Within your team discussion forum, please post your response to these stagings/interpretations of this aria.
- You may choose to discuss the voice, accompaniment, costumes, sets, staging, or what aspects of early opera you find engaging.
- Substantively reply (reference the original post’s content, your opinion, etc.) to a post in order to add to our discussion, and you have successfully completed your assignment.As always, please follow class rules of “Netiquette” (be polite) with your conversations.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyPUJwGEUgA
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ll_u870PG8
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk0Zt1DnGn0
Homework Answer on “Monteverdi’s Orfeo”
The voice in the first video by Georg Nigl is an expression of lost love. The staging is done in a darker area to indicate that the artist is grieving. The grief aspect of the scene is also captured in his costumes as well as make up. Similarly, the postures of the women who form part of the set are done in a still and motionless mode to portray a somber mood. The facial expression in Claudio Monteverdi’s song also signifies loss and grief.
His words come out like a lamentation of why a loved one had to depart suddenly without a word of goodbye. The dancers’ long lasting hugs and slow motion release of their hands are indications that they are consoling one another. It is quite evident through the dance and vocals that they are in a somber state.The costumes of the cast in the video titled “Actor II- L’Orfeo de Monteverdi” gives the feeling of people in mourning from the beginning to the end of the video.
The scene is also composed of people standing in a silent and solemn state that is brought about by their gloomy facial expression. In the words of the song, the singer says good bye to the departed person and to the sun, an indication that he is in morning time. The staging of this video is organized in a way that an individual can deduce the painful experience that the singer and the rest of the people have gone through.