The Tale of Orpheus (1997)

Music herself introduces a drama controlled by the very power of music: it is the story of Orpheus, who conquered the underworld with his singing and playing.

Orpheus and Eurydice celebrate their wedding with their friends; the reluctant Eurydice has finally yielded to Orpheus’s entreaties. They go to the temple to give thanks for their happiness.

Later, Sylvia comes to break the terrible news of Eurydice’s death: she has been bitten by a serpent. Orpheus resolves to follow her to the underworld.

Hope accompanies Orpheus to the gates of Hades but must leave him when they see the sign: Abandon hope all ye who enter here. Orpheus is unable to persuade Charon to ferry him across the River Styx but steals his boat after charming him into sleep.

Spirits at first prevent Orpheus from entering the Courts of Hades, but Proserpina — who had suffered a fate similar to that of Eurydice but fell in love with her seducer, the King of Hades — is moved by Orpheus’s music and persuades Pluto to allow Eurydice to return to the upper world with her husband.

Pluto makes the condition that Orpheus must not look upon Eurydice until they reach the upper world. Both are filled with doubts and, when Pluto, unwilling to relinquish the beautiful Eurydice, causes a violent disturbance behind them, Orpheus cannot resist looking to see if Eurydice is safe. As he looks into her eyes, their one moment of happiness vanishes even as it occurs, and Eurydice is forced to return to the underworld.

Echo joins in Orpheus’s lament as he vows never to love another woman. Apollo, his father, appears and invites him to renounce earthly joys and sorrows and to enter the heavens, where he will enjoy not only the image of Eurydice in the stars but also peace and joy — the true rewards of virtue.

Colin Graham