The U of A Opera presents Orphee aux Enfers, or Orpheus in Hades, an opera bouffe in three acts with text by Crémieux and music by Jacques Offenbach. This will be a full production on the Winspear stage directed by Kim Mattice Wanat and accompanied by the UofA orchestra conducted byPetar Dundjerski.

 

One of the most popular of all of the bouffe operatic works, Offenbach’s tale turns the Orpheus legend upside down and creates a parody on the tales of the Olympian gods. There are a series of humorous vignettes as the Gods, bored with the cushioned confines of Mount Olympus, play mischievously in rebellious moods. Offenbach intended for the opera to appeal to the amusement-seeking class, but the wealth of melody in its musical score and the brilliant humor in its libretto have given it widespread and enduring appeal.