Operetta by Jacques Offenbach
Libretto by Hector Crémieux’ and Ludovic Halévy
World premiere on October 21, 1858 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens
Premiere at the Estonian National Opera on September 30, 2022
In Estonian with subtitles in Estonian and English
Contents
Offenbach’s rhythmic and imaginative music with songs that could beat any Eurovision hit today, the wit and excellent punchlines of the libretto written by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy and the opportunity to offer the audience an entertaining spectacle are the reasons why the operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld” should be performed again and again.
Who is this Orpheus, and why should I care what he did or didn’t do in the underworld, or how he got there in the first place? On the other hand, the underworld is a fascinating and unusual place, and none of the viewers have ever been there. Why not show the audience a musical and playful version of this sinful place without them having to worry about being thrown into a boiling cauldron?
The story itself is simple and only a little supernatural: the mythical Orpheus, who enchanted everyone with his singing and lyre playing, has become a violin professor who – oh no! – accidentally loses his wife Eurydice and goes to the gods to reclaim her. Except that in Offenbach’s opera he does not leave voluntarily, because he actually wants to get rid of the woman; moreover, she has an affair with a neighbor who later turns out to be Pluton, the ruler of the underworld, so that Eurydice is happy to die in order to be with him. Orpheus is forced to embark on a heroic journey to the underworld by a figure called Public Opinion, who ensures that both the myth and the moral rules are observed. Before they descend into the underworld, they seek Eurydice from Jupiter when the king of the gods learns of his younger brother’s conquests and begins to desire the woman himself. Eurydice has nothing against the superior deity either. In the end, however, they both lose and the woman ends up with Bacchus, the god of wine, which doesn’t seem to bother her. No one else seems to mind, because it’s time for the timelessly cheerful cancan that everyone dances to, including public opinion.
