Plot Synopsis and Description of a French Fairy Tale Operetta
Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld) is a four-act opera-féerie composed by Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819 – October 5, 1880.) Libretto is written by H. Crémieus and L. Halévy. It was premiered at Les Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, October 21st, 1858. The setting is in Thebes, Mount Olympus, and the Underworld; time is antiquity.
The operetta Orphée aux Enfers is an early celebrated example of Offenbach’s formula of simultaneously satirizing Third Empire Society and debunking mythological personages. It contains some of his most witty numbers.
Read more — Offenbach Operetta Orphée aux Enfers
