Orphée aux Enfers

Orphée aux Enfers

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

May 1, 1997

Runtime

2h 0m

Genres

Music

Original Title

Orphée aux Enfers

Production Companies

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Arthaus Musik

Director

Dirk Gryspiert

Description

Orphée aux Enfers, Offenbach's riotous parody of the dissipations of French life in the Second Empire, fairly gallops past in this 1997 Herbert Wernicke production staged at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Based on Offenbach's meatier second version (1874) of the Orpheus legend, it features nicely judged performances across the board and some stunning special effects, notably the explosive locomotive crash signalling the breach of the divide between Heaven and Hell. Satire reigns, not least in the reactionary figure of Public Opinion, a pinny-clad bossy boots with a hint of Dame Edna Everage about her. Olympus is a moribund salon full of bored Gods, sick of the Ambrosian diet.