Opera on 3

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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Migrated podcast image for: Radio 3 Opera Guides

Music: Classical: Opera

Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Monteverdi - L'Orfeo

Monteverdi - L'Orfeo

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, Monteverdi - L'Orfeo

Royal Danish Opera's sparklingly vivid production of Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo.

Royal Danish Opera's sparklingly vivid production of Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo, with Concerto Copenhagen, conducted by Lars Ulrik Mortensen.

Tonight's Opera on 3 is a work crucial to the development of opera as we know it today - Monteverdi's L'Orfeo. Based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, the opera tells of his descent to Hades and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride Eurydice back to the living world. Monteverdi brings the story to live with new techniques - harmonic twists and structural devices that bind the narrative together. Danish conductor and baroque expert Lars Ulrik Mortensen teams up with Concerto Copenhagen for Royal Danish Opera's sparklingly vivid interpretation of Monteverdi’s unique and immortal music. 

Martin Handley presents, with contributions from Dr Flora Willson, music lecturer at King's College London.

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) - L'Orfeo, favola in musica in five acts, SV 318
Orfeo ..... Marc Mauillon (baritone) 
Euridice ..... Sofie Lund-Tonnesen (soprano) 
La Musica/Speranza ..... Ellen Larsson (soprano) 
Ninfa/Proserpina ...... Philippa Cold (soprano) 
Messagiera ..... Mia Bergström (mezzo-soprano) 
Pastore ..... Thomas Lichtenecker (countertenor) 
Pastore/Eco ..... Gerald Geerink (tenor) 
Apollo ..... Mark Milhofer (tenor) 
Caronte ..... Kyungil Ko (bass) 
Plutone ..... Nicolai Elsberg (bass) 
Spirito ..... Joel Kyhle (bass) 
Concerto Copenhagen
Lars Ulrik Mortensen (conductor)

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Opera on 3

Monteverdi - L'Orfeo

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