An opera entitled »L’Orfeo« without Orpheus, the singer? The version created by Elina Albach and her ensemble CONTINUUM offers just that. The four performers embark upon the mythical journey into the underworld, exploring the essence of the work – without singing. The story is a highly popular artistic subject, especially in musical theatre: to this day, more than 60 Orpheus operas have been written since the genre first came into being around the year 1600. Not the least reason is that the myth of Orpheus is about the human voice. And that is precisely where harpsichordist Albach begins. To dissociate Monteverdi’s great opera from the voice is the point of the project. The radically condensed chamber-music version features the familiar baroque music on multiple instruments, despite the small number of performers, revealing a version of the singer’s myth that is all the more intriguing for foregoing vocalism.

The concert »Ensemble Continuum Orfeo« with harpsichordist Elina Albach, scheduled for Thursday, 30 June in the Ordenssaal, must unfortunately be cancelled entirely for scheduling reasons. Tickets for »Ensemble Continuum Orfeo« will be taken back at the respective advance booking office where they were purchased.

Image © Marco Borggreve