Discussion | Of Orpheus, Eurydice, Vivaldi, and More

Last year, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo captivated audiences at the Metropolitan Opera with his moving portrayal of Orpheus in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. This spring, Sarah Ruhl’s celebrated play Eurydice returns to New York City, following the success of its operatic adaptation. Now, the two artists are collaborating on The Seasons, a “new Baroque opera about the weather,” with music by Antonio Vivaldi and an original libretto by Ruhl, running this March at Boston Lyric Opera. Who better to explore the art of adaptation, the echoes of the past in the present and future, and the transformative power of performance and voice? How do they illuminate memory, loss, nature, and trauma? Join us for an evening of insight and artistry, where music and words come together to explore timeless human questions.

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo has performed across opera, concert, film, and Broadway since his professional debut at age 11. In June 2024, he became General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia. He has performed with major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and English National Opera, and appeared with top orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra. His recordings include Only an Octave Apart and the GRAMMY-winning Akhnaten. A champion of new music, he has premiered works by leading composers and curated productions for institutions like the BBC Proms and the New York Philharmonic. Costanzo has won numerous prestigious awards, including the Beverly Sills Award and Operalia. A Princeton and Manhattan School of Music graduate, he now serves on multiple boards and has held fellowships at Oxford and Harvard. His artistic vision continues to push boundaries in classical music.

Sarah Ruhl is an award-winning playwright, author, librettist, and professor. A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, her acclaimed plays include The Oldest Boy, Dear Elizabeth, Stage Kiss, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer finalist, 2010); The Clean House (Pulitzer finalist, 2005; Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2004); Passion Play (Pen American Award, Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Helen Hayes Award); Melancholy Play; Demeter in the City (nine NAACP Image Award nominations); Scenes From Court Life; How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday; Eurydice; Orlando; and Late: a cowboy song. Her work has been produced on Broadway, across the U.S., and internationally. She has received numerous honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship, a Whiting Writers’ Award, a PEN Center Award, and a Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. Ruhl earned her M.F.A. from Brown University. She teaches at Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.