Orfeo ed Euridice - Synopsis

ORFEO Euridice has set the table for two and put on an evening gown. She waits and smokes nervously. Under pressure, she makes a decision. She sets about destroying the table and herself. She slams her fists on the table, setting a mechanism in motion which cannot be stopped. She breaks a glass and cuts her wrists. She amplifies her suicidal gesture by taking pills. The choir, an invisible commentator of events, begins to hail Euridice's ghost. In a while, Orfeo arrives in the house. He finds the dead body and is stricken by grief. Euridice disappears behind the death gate.

HELL Orfeo is alone and replays in his head the great drama of mourning. He makes use of the entire scale of musical language. The memorial service for the deceased is under way. Her relatives are standing around the casket. Orfeo is alone. He begs for the fate to change, so that he can meet Euridice again. He switches on the computer, starts writing, transforming his suffering into poetry, into a song. Maybe he believes that music is the only way to death. At the door a messenger appears, the only living person Orfeo has contact with. Together with a mysterious package he brings the news that Orfeo has been expecting: the Gods (whoever they may be) have taken mercy on Orfeo and allow Euridice to return. But with one condition. Orfeo must not look at his beloved, or she will return to the land of the dead forever. Instead of leaving, the postman lingers in Orfeo's space, and poetry flows again from the head of the lover. The messenger leaves the house satisfied to have fulfilled his mission. In the package, Orfeo finds Euridice's urn. Her shadow appears in the house that once belonged to the two of them.

Orfeo 's trial in hell, as he is negotiating with the furies and larvae guarding the entrance to his beloved Euridice changes into a fight against his own fantasy nourished by the feeling of guilt. Euridice 's suicidal gesture repeats itself forever. Her presence grows stronger, she becomes mad and threatening, gradually turning into a vampire. Orfeo has no other choice, he decides to undergo the destructive trial to get to Euridice.

HEAVEN Have Orfeo's prayers been answered? Have his desperate laments brought about a change of fate? The world is full of bright sunshine. There are no traces of the recent devastation. A cleaning lady moves around the house. But Euridice is not there. She has not arrived yet. The heavenly breakfast for two will start shortly. As if woken from a nightmare, Orfeo is unsure of what is going on. He waits, starts writing again, calls at the deceased with his poetry. In spite of its lightness, the calm is deceptive. Euridice returns, but does not believe that she has come to life. Her return is another death they have to experience together. The breakfast together is impossible. The symbolic prohibition to look into Euridice's eyes triggers anew her suicidal states. Euridice cannot understand why she cannot come back. Orfeo can neither tell her nor explain. The lovers lament in solitude. Euridice dies slowly. Again, she passes into the land of the dead. Orfeo stays behind.

EURIDICE The sun is rising. A day like any other. Orfeo is desperate. At first he declares he will follow Euridice. But he does not. His drama takes place in his head, in the hell he carries around in himself, other than Euridice's story. An impressive song is left behind, which Orfeo has written. The circle of his wanderings will never come to an end. Euridice will return time and again.