Orpheus

‘In this work for the stage, Edward Bond’s vision of the beauty and the horror of mortal life are brought together in a drama for all mankind. Orpheus provokes the Gods, unmasks and disempowers them with his singing, thereby freeing man from the fear of death, loss of love, and mortality.’ So Hans Werner Henze summarises the libretto for his ballet, Orpheus. In a series of dramatic scenes, the ballet depicts the battle between rich and poor during which Eurydice is killed, the ghostly figures in Hades, Orpheus’ dance of rage after he has failed to rescue Eurydice, and Orpheus and Eurydice’s pas de deux with ensemble after the victory over the underworld. The work is punctuated by Orpheus’ arias underpinned by the sound of the guitar. Henze comments: ‘It is the clanging and whimpering sounds of the nerve fibres, kaleidoscopic colouring, darkness, shade, silver, weeping, hollow cries reminiscent of nocturnal animals and the echoing of history that move me when I listen to the sounds of the guitar.’