File:The standard operas, their plots and their music; (1916) (14594055350).jpg

English:

Identifier: standardoperasth00upto (find matches)
Title: The Standard Operas, Their Plots and Their Music;
Year: 1916 (1910s)
Authors: Upton, George P. (George Putnam), 1834–1919
Subjects: Operas
Publisher: Chicago : A. C. McClurg & Co.
Contributing library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing sponsor: MSN

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Amor, god of love, appears and announces that the gods have been moved to compassion; and if his song and lyre can appease the phantoms, death shall give back Eurydice upon the conditions already named. The act closes with the joyful song of Orpheus, Will pitying Heaven with wondrous Favor restore mine own? The second act opens in the abysses of the underworld. Flames shoot up amid great masses of rock and from yawning caverns, throwing their lurid glare upon the phantoms, who, writhing in furious indignation, demand in wild and threatening chorus, as the tones of Orpheus's lyre are heard, Who through this awful Place, thinking alive to pass, rashly dares venture here? Madly they call upon Cerberus to kill thy new Prey here. The barking of the triple-headed monster is heard in the tones of the orchestra. They surround Orpheus as he approaches, and with renewed clamor continue this thrilling chorus. In the midst of its cruel intensity is heard the appealing voice of Orpheus (In Pity be moved
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Schalchi as Orpheus / GLUCK 109 / ... by my Grief). With overwhelming wrath comes the reiterated monosyllable, No, from the Furies, – one of the most daring and powerful effects ever made in dramatic music, – followed by another appalling chorus, as they announce to him, These are the Depths of Hell, where the Avengers dwell. At last they are touched by the charm of his music and the sorrow of his story; and as their fury dies away,the song of Orpheus grows more exultant as he contemplates the reunion with Eurydice. The gates of the lower world are opened, and in the third act Orpheus enters Elysium. The scene begins with a tender,lovely song by Eurydice and her companions (In this tranquil and lovely Abode of the Blest), the melody taken by the flute with string accompaniment. All is bright and cheerful and in striking contrast with the gloom and terror of the Stygian scene we have just left. After a short recitative (How mild a Day, without a Noon), Orpheus seeks her. She is brought to him by
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