of Orpheus, since we no longer have male
contraltos, and to keep to this kind of a voice in _Orphee_ we would
have to have recourse to what is called, in theatrical terms, a
_travesti_. There are obstacles to this, however. The pitch has changed
since the Eighteenth Century; it has gone up and it is now impossible,
or nearly so, to sing the role written for Legros. The contraltos of the
Italian chorus have become the counter-tenors, who, for the same reason,
find themselves struggling with too sharp notes.

In the Seventeenth Century the French pitch was even more flat, and it
is a great pity, for it is almost impossible to perform our old music,
on account of the insuperable obstacles. This is not the case in
Germany, however, or in Italy, and that is the reason why the works of
Sebastian Bach and Mozart can be sung. The same is true of Gluck's
Italian works.

This was the reason that Doret gave the part of Orpheus to a contralto,
just as is done at the Opera-Comique. The poetic character of the part
of Orpheus lends itself excellently to such a feminine interpretation.
But in resuming the key of the Italian score, it is necessary to go
back, at least to a considerable degree, to the instrumentation. By a
curious anomaly the beautiful recitative, accompanied by the murmur of
brooks and the songs of the birds, is in C major in both scores. The
author could not have changed them. On the contrary he modified his
instrumentation greatly, simplified and perfected it.

We know that the authors, in utter defiance of mythology, wanted a happy
ending and so brought Eurydice back to life a second time. Love
accomplished this miracle and the work ended with the song "Love
Triumphs," which is exceedingly joyful and in harmony with the
situation. They did not want this ending, which was in _Orfeo_ and which
Gluck retained in _Orphee_, at the old Theatre-Lyrique and the
Opera-Comique, and they replaced it with a chorus by Echo and Narcissus.
This chorus is charming, but that does not excuse it. Joy was what the
author wanted and this does not give joy at all. Gluck's finale is
regarded as not sufficiently distinguished, but this is wrong. The real
finale was sung at Mezieres and it was found that it was not at all
common, but that its frank gaiety was in the best of taste.

Gluck had no scruples about grinding several grists from the same sack
and drawing from his old works to help out his new ones. So the
parasitical aria attri