Photo: Thomas Huther
Theater Kassel, 1999, Director: Wolf Widder
Offenbach - Keck
Orphée aux Enfers (OEK critical edition: 1858 version) (1858)
Opéra-bouffon in two acts (four scenes)
Libretto by Hector Crémieux (with the collaboration of Ludovic Halévy); original German version by Ludwig Kalisch; new German version by Gunter Selling; new English version by Richard Duployen (F,G,E)
Scoring
5S,2M,4T,Bar,B,actor; chorus; ballet;
2(II=picc).1.2.1-2.2.1(or3).0-timp.perc-strings
Gutheim/Reinking arrangement: 2.2.2.2-4.2.2.0-timp.perc-harp-strings
Lamprecht arrangement: 2.2.2.2-2.2.2.0-timp.perc-strings.
Abbreviations (PDF).
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the world.
World Premiere
10/21/1858
Salle Choiseul, Paris
Company: Unknown
World premiere of version
10/30/1999
Tiroler Landestheater, Innsbruck
Brigitte Fassbaender, director
Conductor: Georg Schmöhe
Company: Ensemble Tiroler Landestheater
Roles
| JUPITER, father of the gods | Low Tenor or high Baritone |
| JUNO, his spouse | Soprano or Mezzo Soprano |
| BACCHUS, god of wine | Actor or Singer |
| DIANA, goddess of hunting | Soprano |
| MARS, god of war | Bass |
| MERCURY, messenger of the gods | Tenor |
| MINERVA, goddess of wisdom | Soprano |
| VENUS, goddess of love | Soprano |
| CUPID, Venus's son | Soprano |
| ARISTEUS, a shepherd / PLUTO, ruler of the underworld | Tenor |
| JOHN STYX, Pluto's factotum | Tenor or high Baritone |
| ORPHEUS, a music teacher | Tenor, a violinist, if possible |
| EURYDIKE, his spouse | Soprano |
| PUBLIC OPINION | Mezzo Soprano |
| Gods, goddesses |
Time and Place
The surroundings of Thebes; in the Olymp; in the underworld. Antiquity.
Synopsis
The married life of Orpheus and Eurydike is far from being a classical one. Eurydike has had enough of her husband, a violin virtuoso and director of the conservatory of Thebes, and has given up hiding her affair with the shepherd Aristeus. Aristeus, however, is in truth Pluto, the lord of the underworld, who stages a tragic death for Eurydike so he can take his loved one down to Hades. Orpheus feels relieved, for now he can fully devote himself to his female pupils. But at that point, Public Opinion steps in. After all, the good reputation of classical antiquity is at stake, so he asks the characters to keep to the mythology. Thus Orpheus, like it or not, is ordered to call at Mount Olympus and to lodge a complaint against Pluto.
Moods
Comic, Poetic
Subjects
Mythology, Relationships, Society
Items on Sale
| Orphée aux Enfers (1858) (OEK) | CD-Rom (Offenbach Edition Keck - Critical Edition) | > Details |
| Orphée aux Enfers (1858) (OEK) | Full Score, CD-Rom | > Details |
| Orphée aux Enfers (1858) (OEK) | (Vocal Score) (French, German) | > Details |
