Date: Thu, Sep 24, 7:00 PM CDT
Haymarket Opera Company and The Newberry Consort join forces to present Claudio Monteverdi’s 1607 operatic masterpiece, L’Orfeo. Following a 2025 presentation of the oldest surviving opera, Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, Chicago's acclaimed historical-performance ensembles return to the myth of Orpheus in a new, fully staged production of Monteverdi’s timeless favola in musica (fable in music) on the same myth. L’Orfeo stands as one of the most enduring masterpieces of the operatic genre. More than four centuries after its premiere, this co-production will captivate both seasoned opera lovers and first-time audiences, restoring Monteverdi’s revolutionary work to its full splendor for the 21st-century stage. Making his Haymarket debut in the title role, tenor Zachary Wilder has established himself as a leading interpreter of 17th- and 18th-century repertoire, from Monteverdi to Mozart. His artistry and dramatic commitment have earned him invitations from some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and ensembles on both sides of the Atlantic. He collaborates regularly with renowned ensembles such as Pygmalion, L’Arpeggiata, Les Arts Florissants, Les Talens Lyriques, Le Concert d’Astrée, the Boston Early Music Festival, Bach Collegium Japan, the Monteverdi Choir & The English Baroque Soloists, the Handel & Haydn Society, the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, and the Nederlands Kamerkoor. Chicago audiences may remember Wilder’s notable performances in the 2017 trio of Monteverdi operas presented by the Monteverdi Choir at the Harris Theater. Haymarket Opera Company Artistic Director Craig Trompeter and The Newberry Consort Artistic Director Liza Malamut bring together an ensemble of early-music specialists to perform Monteverdi’s inventive score on period instruments including cornetti, sackbuts, recorders, violins, viola da gamba, lirone, harp, lutes, organ, and harpsichord. Hailed for his “marvelous” conducting (Opera Magazine), Craig Trompeter returns to the podium to lead the instrumental ensemble of 17th-century period instruments. Chase Hopkins returns for his third production as stage director, having offered a "skillful" (Chicago Classical Review) debut as a stage director in 2023 leading a production of Hasse's Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, and a 2024 production of Handel's Tamerlano, praised as "another impressive achievement" (Opera Magazine). Hopkins is joined by regular Haymarket collaborators including set designer Wendy Waszut-Barrett, costume designer Stephanie Cluggish, and wig and make-up designer Megan Pirtle. Presented in a new, fully staged production; Co-produced with The Newberry Consort Performance length: 2.5 hours, including one 20-minute intermission This performance is sung in the original Italian, with projected English titles. Post-opera talkback: Following the performance, members of the team will host a talkback with the audience to share insights into the music, dramatic choices, and the making of the production. Purchase tickets now to take advantage of early-bird prices for this performance. Due to limited seating and high demand at the Jarvis Opera Hall, this special pricing will end one month prior to the performance. Synopsis L’Orfeo (1607) recounts the story of Orpheus, a legendary mortal musician whose beautiful songs charm humans, animals, and even the gods. When his beloved Eurydice dies from the bite of a venomous snake on their wedding day, Orpheus boldly descends into the Underworld to wrest her from the clutches of death. Pluto, King of Hades, is charmed by Orpheus’s voice and musical virtuosity, so he releases Eurydice on the condition that Orpheus not look back at her until they reach the world of the living. Overcome by human doubt, Orpheus turns to glance at her too soon and loses Eurydice forever. Heartbroken, he returns to Thrace, vowing never to love again. Apollo, god of music, hears his laments and lifts Orpheus to the stars where he may embrace Eurydice for eternity. About the composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) was a prolifically original Italian musician who became the most influential composer of his time in both sacred and secular genres. His career began in his native Cremona before he was recruited to serve the Gonzaga court in Mantua, where he composed madrigals and music for court entertainments, including his groundbreaking masterpiece, L’Orfeo (1607), followed by the mostly lost L’Arianna (1608). In 1613 he relocated to Venice upon his appointment to the prestigious position of maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s Basilica, though he continued to fulfill commissions for the Gonzaga and other patrons. In Venice he not only revitalized the repertory of the basilica but continued to produce innovative concerted madrigals, a monumental collection of sacred music (Selva morale e spirituale), and his striking late operas, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea. About the librettist Alessandro Striggio the Younger (c. 1573–1630), son of the composer Alessandro Striggio the Elder, was an Italian court poet and librettist esteemed at the Gonzaga court in Mantua. He is best remembered for his collaborations with Claudio Monteverdi, having provided the libretto for L’Orfeo (1607), the first operatic masterpiece, and L’Arianna (1608) with its affecting and widely circulated “Lamento d’Arianna.” Striggio was a member of the noble Accademia degli Invaghiti that commissioned Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. The collaboration continues: From Peri to Monteverdi Following a 2025 presentation of Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, the oldest surviving opera, Chicago's acclaimed historical-performance ensembles Haymarket Opera Company and The Newberry Consort join forces for a second collaboration, returning to the tale of Orpheus through a new, fully staged production of Claudio Monteverdi’s timeless opera, L’Orfeo. While Jacopo Peri’s La Dafne was the first-ever operatic experiment and his Euridice is the first complete opera to survive, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo claims its place as the cornerstone of the genre. Our collaboration offers Chicago audiences an opportunity to luxuriate in this masterpiece of early Italian opera, staged, sung, and played by two of Chicago’s most celebrated early music ensembles. The Gonzaga family in Mantua had long invested in courtly musical and dramatic entertainments, sometimes sharing musicians with the Medici in Florence. In 1600, while visiting Florence for the wedding of Maria de’ Medici to King Henry IV of France, Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga attended the premiere of Peri’s Euridice. It may be that his principal musicians, including Monteverdi, as well as the poet Alessandro Striggio, formed part of his entourage and thus heard Peri’s opera. Seven years later, after some sixteen years as a composer and arranger of entertainment music for the Gonzaga court, Monteverdi knew his elite audience. With Striggio’s poetry, he created an enthralling new opera that sustained rather than questioned the social hierarchy. Fundamentally, L'Orfeo explores the power of song and the superiority of intellect over mere brawn. Orfeo is an expressively elegant mortal consumed by his very human passions. Clothed in Monteverdi’s innovative music, he becomes a hero of the courtly world and a symbol of late Renaissance self-confidence. About The Newberry Consort The Newberry Consort brings together singers and instrumentalists of the highest caliber to create historically informed performances of music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the baroque, and beyond. By integrating historical performance and research with contemporary themes and multimedia, The Newberry Consort inspires audiences, musicians, and scholars, providing a window into earlier times and diverse cultures while uplifting Chicago’s early-music community through mentorships, teaching, and the engagement of local artists. Please visit the Haymarket Opera website for more information on this production.