Artwork of the Day
With the Artwork of the Day we connect a work of art to one of the concert programmes. Sometimes the link is obvious, sometimes surprising or unexpected. Today we feature a sculpture: Orpheus and Eurydice by Auguste Rodin (c. 1893).
The sculpture captures one of the most poignant moments from Greek mythology. Orpheus, through his music, has persuaded the gods of the underworld to return his beloved Eurydice. But at the very last moment he looks back, against the divine command. And in that instant he loses her forever.
Rodin has fixed this moment in marble: Orpheus already stands nearly in the light, while Eurydice remains in shadow. Their posture is tense: on one side a longing for each other, on the other the looming separation - a stark contrast between hope and fear.
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is also the subject of one of Claudio Monteverdi’s greatest operas: L’Orfeo. It is not only a love story, but above all a tribute to the power of music. Orpheus’s songs open the gates of the underworld, yet his human frailty proves fatal: one backward glance, and Eurydice slips away forever. Monteverdi sets this moment to music that is both consoling and unrelenting.
What makes Monteverdi’s approach so innovative is his decision to let the text lead. The music follows the meaning of each word, every emotion is given its own melodic gesture and colour. The result is an intensely dramatic work in which language and sound merge completely. The chorus plays a special role here: not mere background, but the voice of the community, a witness and conscience that makes Orpheus’s fate all the more poignant.
In Rodin’s sculpture and Monteverdi’s music the same questions arise: how powerful is art truly - can it conquer death, or does it only grant us a glimpse of consolation? Both offer the same answer: art cannot change fate, but it can render it unforgettable. In marble, in sound, and in the story of Orpheus, which continues to move us again and again.
