Orpheus was the great musician of Greek myth. When he played his lyre, he could command all nature. He was music-maker to Jason and the Argonauts and at the centre of a religious cult. But the best known story is about what happens when Eurydice. Orpheus's true love, dies from a snake bite. Orpheus goes in search of her, charms the keepers of the underworld with his music and brings her back to life only to lose her again with a backward glance. It is a tragic journey which has inspired generations of composers. Oliver Taplin is joined by opera director
David Freeman to discuss the ways this tale has been realised in music, from Monteverdi's opera to Camus's film Black Orpheus. Producer Susan Marling