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Orpheus in the Underworld
is a
comic opera
composed by
Jacques Offenbach
with a French-language
libretto
by
Hector Crémieux
and
Ludovic Halévy
. It was first performed as a two-act
opéra bouffon
at the
Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens
, Paris, in 1858, and was extensively revised and expanded in a four-act
opéra féerie
version, presented at the
Théâtre de la Gaîté
in 1874. The plot is a lampoon of the myth of
Orpheus and Eurydice
in Greek mythology. In this version,
Orpheus
is not the son of
Apollo
but a rustic violin teacher. He is glad to be rid of his wife
Eurydice
when she is abducted by
Pluto
, the god of the underworld. Orpheus has to be bullied by Public Opinion into trying to rescue Eurydice. The reprehensible conduct of the
gods of Olympus
in the opera was widely seen as a veiled satire of the court and government of French emperor
Napoleon III
. This photograph depicts
Jeanne Granier
as Eurydice and Eugène Vauthier as
Jupiter
in the form of a fly as part of the 1887 Paris revival of
Orpheus in the Underworld
.
Photograph credit:
Atelier Nadar
; restored by
Adam Cuerden
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