South African artist William Kentridge has presented a striking new production of Claudio Monteverdi’s *L’Orfeo* at Glyndebourne, marking the first time the 1607 opera has been staged at the East Sussex festival. The production, which opened in June 2026, is a co-production with the Greek National Opera and New York’s Metropolitan Opera, featuring the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under the direction of conductor Jonathan Cohen.
Kentridge, 71, approached this early baroque masterpiece with his signature layered and multifaceted aesthetic. Rejecting Richard Wagner’s concept of opera as a “total work of art,” Kentridge described the experience instead as a “drowning excess” where music, text, historical context, and visual elements converge to overwhelm the senses and intellect. This interpretation is evident in the production’s complex staging and visual storytelling, which incorporates references ranging from early 17th-century Italy to the 20th century.
The creative team includes set designer Sabine Theunissen, costume designer Greta Goiris, lighting designer Urs Schönebaum, and video artist Janus Fouché. Together, they present a setting that shifts between a crowded Bauhaus studio—inhabited by a well-rehearsed chorus—and evocative, symbolic imagery. A central motif draws on the work of poet Rainer Maria Rilke, whose 1923 *Orpheus* sonnets significantly influenced Kentridge’s vision. The company’s choice to include this 20th-century artistic reference adds a psychological and temporal depth to the narrative of Orpheus and Euridice.
Performers include Polish tenor Krystian Adam in the title role and Italian soprano Francesca Aspromonte as La Musica and Euridice. Aspromonte’s character is uniquely portrayed both vocally and through dance, with performer Roseline Wilkens embodying Euridice in various forms, including a charcoal drawing and a figure trapped behind an illusory mirror. Australian mezzo-soprano Xenia Puskarz Thomas delivers the Messenger’s part with a clear, vibrato-free tone that is amplified by the orchestra’s use of Venetian pitch, tuning nearly a semitone higher than modern standards. This heightened pitch, alongside the inclusion of two piccolo violins, lends a distinctive brightness and intensity to the musical texture.
The production pays careful attention to orchestral color and mood shifts, distinguishing scenes set in Thrace’s pastoral fields from the ominous atmosphere of Hades. The ominous sound of the regal, a reed organ, contributes a hellish timbre to the underworld sequences. The cast is completed with cameo appearances, including German bass-baritone Florian Störtz as a shepherd.
Kentridge’s staging provokes varied reactions. While his visual innovation—bold, dense, and psychologically charged—offers a rich interpretive layer, some may find it competes with Monteverdi’s score rather than complementing it. Audience responses at the premiere ranged from rapturous applause for Kentridge’s visionary direction to enthusiastic recognition for the musical ensemble’s precise execution.
As an artist seldom content to play a secondary role, Kentridge fully immerses himself in Monteverdi’s seminal work, materializing a production that is as much an homage as it is a complex meditation on myth, art, and memory. This multifaceted approach continues Glyndebourne’s tradition of collaboration with world-class visual artists, following in the footsteps of figures such as David Hockney. The timing of Kentridge’s debut production shortly after Hockney’s death adds a poignant dimension to this meeting of music and visual art at the festival.