Orpheus (Telemann)

Orpheus (Telemann)

Orpheus (full title: Die wunderbare Beständigkeit der Liebe oder Orpheus, The Wonderful Constancy of Love, or Orpheus) is an opera in three acts by the German composer Georg Philipp Telemann. It was first performed in a concert version at the Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg on 9 March 1726. The anonymous libretto is based on Orphée by Michel du Boulay, originally set by the French composer Louis Lully. Most of the work is in German but it also contains passages in French and Italian drawn from famous operas by Handel and Jean-Baptiste Lully. The music to these words is Telemann's own, however. The manuscript score of Orpheus was not rediscovered until the late 20th century.