La descente d'Orphée aux enfers
Opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about La descente d'Orphée aux enfers?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
La descente d'Orphée aux enfers H.488 (English: The Descent of Orpheus to the Underworld) is an incomplete chamber opera in two acts by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was probably composed in early 1686 and performed either in the apartments of the Dauphin that spring or at Fontainebleau in the autumn. Charpentier himself sang the title role, joined by musicians of Mademoiselle de Guise and members of the Dauphin's little ensemble; it was Charpentier's last appearance with this ensemble.
The libretto, whose author is unknown, is based on the myth of Orpheus as told by Ovid in Book 10 of the Metamorphoses. It is debatable whether the opera as it survives in the manuscript is complete or not. The musicologist H. Wiley Hitchcock believes Charpentier may have planned (and composed) a third, concluding act.
The opera is not to be confused with an earlier work, by Charpentier, Orphée descendant aux enfers H.471, which is a cantata for three male voices, 2 violins, recorder, flute, and bc.