Orpheus in the Underworld

Composer: OFFENBACH, Jacques
  • Offenbach composed his two-act operetta Orphée aux enfers in 1858. 
  • Orpheus in the Underworld is a parody of Greek mythology, specifically the Orpheus myth. Offenbach’s zany send-up of Greek myth includes writing a can-can for the gods to dance in the abode of the dead, and a quotation from the aria “Che farò senza Euridice” from Gluck’s (very serious) classic opera Orpheus and Euridice. 
  • Fun fact: Offenbach named his vacation home in Normandy after this operetta success: Villa Orphée.  
  • Offenbach actually did not compose an overture to Orpheus in the Underworld. The overture we know was compiled from Orpheus themes in 1860 by Carl Binder for a Vienna production of the show.1 
  • Synopsis of Orpheus in the Underworld 

Sources

  1. Andrew Lamb, “Offenbach, Jacques,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 25, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000020271.

Cut IDs

43005 16867 41058 42318 44927 14318 40610 43104