René Jacobs and Telemanns Orpheus

Die wunderbare Beständigkeit der Liebe oder Orpheus - it is quite a title for Telemann's seldom-heard opera. René Jacobs will demonstrate: the composer stood his ground alongside Bach and Handel.

Telemann the polyglot: true European opera
He remains a bit of a forgotten child next to Bach and Handel, but in his time Telemann was at least as highly regarded as those two other German titans. He was also more than creditable in the fields of oratorio and opera. His version of the famous Orpheus story immediately shows how polyglot Telemann was. Although his opera is mainly sung in German, he borrowed texts from his colleagues Handel and Lully and set their arias to music again, but in Italian and French. Thus, his Orpheus became a truly European opera, although some considered it a 'musical hotchpotch'. Of course, the Orpheus story proves the power of song and music. Although Orpheus, here in a baritone role, fails and looks to Eurydice in the underworld, he nevertheless remains faithful to her, hence the 'wunderbare Beständigkeit der Liebe'.

Rediscovered some 250 years after the premiere
In 1726, the opera was premiered in the Theater am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg, where Handel had once started his career. The score was only rediscovered in the mid-1970s, which makes this first performance in the Netherlands extra special.

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