"Orpheus! Is it illusion, is it truth?" – Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera opens immediately with Orpheus's heart-rending lament for his deceased wife, Eurydice. The god Cupid, however, enables him to free his beloved Eurydice from the underworld. On his way out of Hades, he refuses, as instructed by the gods, to look at Eurydice – causing her to doubt his love. When Orpheus finally turns to her, Eurydice plunges back into the underworld. With his fatal decision and action, Orpheus unleashes an avalanche of emotions and demonstrates that art, music, and song, in the name of love, can conquer the terrors of death. The various musical settings of the Orpheus myth have repeatedly marked innovations on the operatic stage. Thus, Gluck placed his masterpiece entirely at the service of the reform opera he championed, moving away from the contrived virtuosity of opera seria towards a focused, dramatic narrative with expressively emotional music. Gluck's setting of the story of Orpheus possesses an unprecedented dramatic truthfulness, allowing the audience to deeply empathize with the lovers' emotional world. The internationally acclaimed star countertenor Valer Sabadus, who was Artist in Residence with the Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha-Eisenach during the 2023/24 season, will sing the title role of Orpheus. He is one of the foremost interpreters of the role and will undoubtedly set a high standard for this series of performances. The Thuringia Philharmonic Baroque Orchestra will perform under the musical direction of Baroque specialist Michael Hofstetter, Artistic Director of the International Gluck Festival Nuremberg.

EPSG:4326

ORPHEUS – Ekhof Festival – Baroque Impulse

Schloss Friedenstein Gotha

ORPHEUS – Baroque Impulse

Landestheater Eisenach

Luck – Orpheus

Friedenskirche

Margravial Opera House Bayreuth

Altes Rathaus Nuremberg

Orfeo ed Euridice

Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach

Anna Christin Sayn

Events

Past events

Jul 4, 2026

ORPHEUS – Ekhof Festival – Baroque Impulse · Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach

Jun 20, 2026

ORPHEUS – Baroque Impulse · Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach

Future and recently performed repertoire

Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck

Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach

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