L'Orfeide (reduced version)
(L'Orfeide)

L’Orfeide is not a set of three operas in one act, but a single opera in three parts. Parts I and II, however, can be performed independently. Part I introduces the seven Masques and Orpheus himself. Part II presents a continuous sequence of dramatic episodes, each telling its own miniature story - there are seven, like the Masques of Part I and the Eighth, a Canzona (Part III), represents Orpheus who also appeared at the end of Part I, thus sealing the cycle’s unity.