The second act opens in the abysses of the underworld.  Flames shoot up amid great masses of rock and from yawning caverns, throwing their lurid glare upon the phantoms, who writhing in furious indignation demand in wild and threatening chorus, as the tones of Orpheus’s lyre are heard, “Who through this awful Place, thinking alive to pass, rashly dares venture here?” Madly they call upon Cerberus “to kill thy new Prey here.”  The barking of the triple-headed monster is heard in the tones of the orchestra.  They surround Orpheus as he approaches, and with renewed clamor continue this thrilling chorus.  In the midst of its cruel intensity is heard the appealing voice of Orpheus ("In Pity be moved by my Grief").  With overwhelming wrath comes the reiterated monosyllable, “No,” from the Furies,—­one of the most daring and powerful effects ever made in dramatic music,—­followed by another appalling chorus, as they announce to him, “These are the Depths of Hell, where the Avengers dwell.”  At last they are touched by the charm of his music and the sorrow of his story; and as their fury dies away, the song of Orpheus grows more exultant as he contemplates the reunion with Eurydice.

The gates of the lower world are opened, and in the third act Orpheus enters Elysium.  The scene begins with a tender, lovely song by Eurydice and her companions ("In this tranquil and lovely Abode of the Blest"), the melody taken by the flute with string accompaniment.  All is bright and cheerful and in striking contrast with the gloom and terror of the Stygian scene we have just left.  After a short recitative ("How mild a Day, without a Noon"), Orpheus seeks her.  She is brought to him by a crowd of shadows; and breaking out in joyful song he takes her by the hand and turns his face to the upper world.

The fourth act is almost entirely an impassioned duet between Orpheus and Eurydice.  He releases her hand for fear that he may turn and look upon her.  Eurydice chides him ("Am I changed or grown old that thou wilt not behold me?").  In vain he urges her to follow him.  She upbraids him for his coldness, and demands one glance as a test of his love.  He still refuses, and then she sorrowfully bids him farewell.  At last, overcome with weariness and sorrow, he gazes upon her; and at that instant she falls lifeless.  Then Orpheus breaks out in that immortal song, the Che faro senza Eurydice ("I have lost my Eurydice"), the beauty and pathos of which neither time nor change of musical custom can ever mar.  He is about to take his life with his sword; but Amor suddenly appears upon the scene, stays his hand, and tells him the gods are moved by his sufferings.  He restores Eurydice to life, and the opera closes with a beautiful terzetto in Love’s temple.  The denouement is followed by ballet music.

GOETZ.