Orfeo son io

L’Arpeggiata instrumental ensemble
Rolando Villazón tenor
Céline Scheen soprano
Christina Pluhar programme, concept, arrangements, theorbo and musical direction

Programme:
Arias and instrumental works by Claudio Monteverdi, Luigi Rossi, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Carlos Gardel, Luiz Bonfá and others

Rolando Villazón made his debut as Orfeo in Monteverdi’s eponymous opera at the 2016 Musikfest Bremen. Fascinated by the myth of Orpheus ever since this first collaboration with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata, they embarked on a new project about the classical hero: »Orfeo son io«. The programme premiered at the 2021 Musikfest – still under Covid restrictions at the time – and the concept was refined over the years with countless follow-up performances. The archetype of the force and power of music and arguably the most famous figure in music history has inspired a multitude of other composers and so the concert – as well as the accompanying CD released in the autumn of 2025 – spans from Monteverdi and his contemporaries to Christoph Willibald Gluck and into the 20th century with Carlos Gardel and Luiz Bonfá. Reason enough to invite the dream team of Villazón and Pluhar back once more with this vibrant, colourful and multi-faceted Gesamtkunstwerk. Playfully bouncing between epochs and moods with emotional intensity, it holds up a mirror to our innermost human truth, never losing sight of the heart of the matter: the eternal longing for love!

supported by the Waldemar Koch Stiftung
with the kind support of Angelika Bunnemann-Brabant and Dr Thomas Brabant