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Orphée aux enfers is an operetta in two acts by Jacques Offenbach. The original French language text was by Meilhac and Halévy, and the first production took place at Paris in 1858.
Plot
- Place: Act I, near Thebes and Olympus. Act II, chamber of Pluto and festal hall in Hades.
Orpheus lives unhappily with Eurydice. While he pursues the beautiful shepherdess, Chloe, his wife loves the shepherd, Aristeus, who is really Pluto. While she is gathering flowers in the meadows (aria, Eurydice: "She whose heart dreams") Orpheus appears, takes her for Chloe, and each discovers the falsity of the other. Eurydice flies with Aristeus, and Orpheus, overjoyed, dances and sings with pleasure at getting rid of her.
Popular Opinion, to whom Orpheus is subject as a teacher of music and professor at the conservatory of Thebes, forces him to proceed to Olympus and implore Jupiter to restore his wife. After an interval of idyllic peace, broken by the sound of Diana’s horn (Diana: "When Dian comes into the plain"), there is a revolt in Olympus. The gods refuse to receive Nectar and Ambrosia any longer, and demand more substantial fare. Together they grumble and gossip like mortals. Venus, aided by Cupid, makes mischief. Jupiter quarrels with Pluto, who takes advantage of the opportunity to inaugurate a rebellion. Orpheus and Popular Opinion arrive at this moment. Orpheus accuses Pluto of having abducted Eurydice, which he denies, and Jupiter and all the gods of Olympus decide to accompany Orpheus and Public Opinion in their investigation of the charge. Pluto, in the meantime, has concealed Eurydice in Hades in a secret chamber with only one attendant, the idiotic John Styx (Styx: "When I was king"), once prince of Arcady, who has been instructed to guard her carefully. Jupiter enters the chamber in the guise of a fly, and Eurydice, hoping to escape, promises him her love and is transformed into a Bacchante. (Song, Eurydice: "Pretty fly, with gilded wing.") Pluto is compelled to return Eurydice to her husband, while Jupiter plans to retain her. Orpheus is only to receive her, if, on the way from Hades to the upper world, he can reach the Styx without turning his head to look at his wife. He is about to succeed, when Jupiter causes the lightning to flash before him, and the terrified Orpheus looks back. Jupiter triumphs, for he has won Eurydice. (Chorus: "Long live wine!") In the future she will belong neither to her husband nor to Pluto, but as a Bacchante will be subject only to him. (Eurydice: "Bacchus has appeared to me.") Pluto is angry, Popular Opinion is sad, but Orpheus returns to his home in delight.
Reference: Plot synopsis taken from the public domain The Opera Goer's Complete Guide by Leo Melitz, 1921 version.it:Orfeo all'inferno (Offenbach)