Orphée with the Hells - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Characters

Orphée, tenor
Eurydice, soprano
Aristée-Pluto, tenor
Jupiter, baritone
the Public opinion, mezzo-soprano
Junon, soprano
Mars, baritone
Venus, soprano
Cupid, mezzo-soprano
Diane, soprano
Minerve, soprano
Mercury, tenor
John Styx, tenor

Creators

Orphée : Tayau then Meyronnet
Eurydice: Dye stick Tautin then Marie Cico
Aristée-Pluto: Leonce then Achilles-Felix Montaubry
Jupiter: Desired then Christian
the Public opinion: Marguerite Macé then E. Gilbert
Junon: Enjalbert then Pauline Lyon
Mars: Floquet then Gravel
Venus: Marie Garnier then Angele
Cupid: Coralie Geoffroy then Matz-Ferrare
Diane: Chabert then Berthe Perret
Minerve: Marie Cico
Mercury: Jean-Paul then Pierre Grivot
John Styx: Cover then Alexandre
Bacchus: Antognini
Charon: Duvernoy
Morphée : Merchant
Cerberus: Tautin father
Eaque (1874): Jean-Paul

Other creators of 1874: Castello, Durieu, Iriart, Julia H., Maury, White Méry, Put, Morini, Etienne Scipion, Jules Vizentini.

Intrigue

Act 1

The couple formed by the violonist Orphée and Eurydice is not as well as possible of its form: Madam flirte with the shepherd Aristée for whom it picking of the flowers while Mister charms a Nymph with his music to which its wife is more than refractory. The two husbands hate themselves cordially and Orphée does not hesitate to aggravate Eurydice by playing its one hour to him concerto a quarter with the violin. Being given that he is slave of the public opinion and the glance of the others, Orphée cannot consider the divorce. Of agreement with Aristée, it deposits a mantrap in the corn field in which Eurydice folâtre with its shepherd and from there will give itself its lessons of music. Aristée, which is shepherd only seemingly and is not other than Pluton the disguised lord of the hells, attracts Eurydice in the trapped field. The latter falls into the trap and is killed by the trap. Pluto reveals its identity and removes it in the dark cesspool of the hell of which he is king, not without to have left in Orphée a message announcing the death of its wife: “I leave the house because I died, Aristée is Pluton, and the devil carries me. ”

Of return to him, Orphée finds the note and dances of joy by thanking Jupiter for having delivered it his woman and amusing already of its new life with its nymph. Alas, it is without counting on the Public opinion which unloads shouting with the anathema and obliges Orphée to follow it to go to find Jupiter in order to claim his wife to him: “Come, it is the honor which calls you and the honor passes before the love”. Depity, Orphée is constrained to follow the Public opinion.

In Olympe, field of the gods, nothing does not go any more, and Jupiter tries to save appearances near the mortals. It thus transformed the hunter Actéon into stag, that Diane the pure huntress had taken for lover, in order to save the honor of mythology. However, it seems that Jupiter is far from showing the example itself, and its wife Junon, the suspect one to have even removed Eurydice. Jupiter him clamp its innocence and announces that it to him suspect Pluton, assumption soon confirmed by Mercure that Jupiter had sent espionner in hell. Junon, relieved, share to eat while Jupiter, inveterate womanizer are interested in Eurydice which one say extremely beautiful. He convenes Pluton to make him acknowledge removal. This last, to save its skin organizes the revolt of the gods and demigods of the Olympe against the tyrannical reign of dad Piter , the sempiternal blue sky and the insipid mode of Nectar and ambrosia. The goddesses and Cupid reveal the many metamorphoses that Jupin used to allure mortals and Pluton concludes that if Jupiter feels obliged to take the appearance of animals to go to allure these ladies, it is that it is in fact so ugly that it does not dare to be shown such as one did it.

At this point in time one announces the entry of Orphée accompanied by the Public opinion. Always concerned of appearances towards the mortals, Jupiter enjoint with everyone to calm itself lays out the gods for a charming general picture.

Pushed by the Public opinion, Orphée requires without conviction of Jupiter that one return his wife removed by Pluton to him. Jupiter, which foresees the possibility there of conquering Eurydice accepts and announces that it itself will deliver Eurydice in hell. The always tired gods of the paradisiac life of Olympe ask Jupiter to accompany it in the subsoils by the hell. This last accepts, and everyone leaves merrily towards the residence Pluto.

Act 2

Left only under the guard of a geôlier-buffoon named John Styx, Eurydice is bored firmly and is forced to support Styx which awkwardly tries to charm it. She almost comes from there to regret her husband when she is brutally locked up because Pluton unloads pursued by Jupiter. Pluto notes with relief that John Styx succeeded in with arranging Eurydice in time and clamp thus his innocence. Jupiter notices a door provided with a lock and guesses that Eurydice is locked up behind. He excuses himself at Pluton for his false charges and announces to him that he will join the festival from this step which the lord of the hells organized for the gods. But the shelter of the glances, he asks Cupid to transform it to enable him to reach Eurydice. This last metamorphoses it in fly so that it can allure Eurydice. This one, charmed by the arrival of a winged companion captures the fly which emits charming buzzes. Also it is very astonished when the fly transforms itself into man and speaks to him. Jupiter explains to him why he wants to remove it but that he must take part in the festival of Pluto if he does not want to wake up the suspicions. He disguises Eurydice in bacchante and they from there will join the guests to dance the minuet and the Cancan. At the end of the infernal gallop, Jupiter tries to flee, but is stopped by Pluton which had recognized Eurydice and which is thus well obliged to acknowledge that it had indeed removed it. The gods do not have time to dispute, because Orphée and Opinon Publique arrives and Jupiter is constrained to hold its promise and to return his wife in Orphée. He adds however a condition express as much as unexplainable to his gesture: Orphée must leave the places while going in front of Eurydice and not be turned over before to have crossed the Styx, or else his wife would be taken again to him forever. Indicator that Orphée does not benefit from the gold occasion that it gave him to get rid of his wife, Jupiter, god of the lightning, starts a flash of which it has the secrecy who makes start and to be turned over Orphée. Eurydice is taken again to him but will go neither to Pluton, nor in Jupiter, because this last makes a bacchante of it.

Reception of work

Orphée with the Hells is the first operetta of Offenbach where the booklet rests on a very strong satire of ancient mythology. This extremely ironic bias caused (inter alia) reactions of judgment among some critical of the time, which saw there a kind of profanation of an essential heritage.

One finds this attitude at Zola: the scene of opening of its novel Nana is the account of the first of an operetta entitled the blonde Venus , who very strongly resembles Orphée with the Hells , and of which it makes a rather dépréciative description: “This carnival of the gods, Olympe trailed in mud, a whole religion, a whole ridiculed poetry, seemed an exquisite treat. The fever of irreverence gained the world well-read man of the first representations; one trampled on the legend, one broke the antiques images. For a long time, with the theater, the public had not been vautré in more disrespectful silly thing. That rested it. ”

External bonds

very complete Card on '' Orphée with the Hells '' on the site of the ANAO
Booklet of the first version (1958)

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