Orpheus: a figure of the marvelous in baroque opera

Abstract

Orpheus’s character is present in major lyrical works from the beginning and the end of the Baroque period (Peri, Caccini, Monteberdi, Gluck). He also appears in the operas (Rossi, Charpentier, Louis de Lully), ballets (Jean-Baptiste Lully) or cantatas (Ramenau) in which the various modalities of marvelous Baroque musical are expressed through this polymorphic myth. Orpheus can also be seen as a metaphor for the synthesis of the arts, which is proper to opera.