Orpheus descends to hell. See what “Orpheus in Hell” is in other dictionaries. Navigation of small vessels is stopped in the Leningrad region

Public opinion explains her role in the opera as a defender of morality. Her goal is to remake the story of the musician Orpheus and the beautiful Eurydice (who, being husband and wife, hate each other) into an edifying story about love and marital fidelity. Unfortunately, Eurydice secretly loves the shepherd Arista, and Orpheus secretly loves the shepherdess Chloe. When one night Orpheus confuses his wife with his mistress, everything is revealed and Eurydice demands a divorce. Orpheus, fearing the reaction of Public Opinion to the scandal, forces Eurydice to remain silent, tormenting her with his violin playing, which she cannot stand.

Orpheus in Hell (Orpheus in der Unterwelt) is a burlesque opera in 3 (there is a version in 4 acts) acts (Earth, Heaven, Hades) based on a libretto by Hector Cremieux and Ludovic Halévy. 1984 Berlin.
Musical editing: Hermann Lamprecht.
Dramatization: Goetz Friedrich.
Ballet, choir and orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, conductor - Jesus Lopez Cobos

Julia Migenes-Johnson - Eurydice
Donald Grobe - Orpheus
Mona Siefried
Hans Beyrer
Astrid Verney

Helmut Lohner - Fritz Stix

I especially recommend paying attention to this brilliant comic performer (and director) - Helmut Lohner. His couplets “When I was King in Boeotia” in 3 days are impossible to forget. A real gem, a genius in the truest sense of the word.

There are no special modernisms or effects in the production (I think everything was there under Offenbach - for example, luminous letters on the doors in Act 1, during the descent of Eurydice into the kingdom of Pluto), however, the invention, excellent humor, and well-played images caused me a storm of delight. Wit is the main virtue of Offenbach's masterpiece (teasing Wagner - quotes from the ring, or the old name of the Olympus Hotel - Valhalla crossed out.)

The allegories of Offenbach and Halévy are quite transparent - these are, of course, parodies of modern morals and the life of Jacques's contemporaries. What can we say about the cancan dancing gods? And Eurydice (who, by the way, is half-naked - a clear sign of modesty), who said about a happy married life, “than such a life, it’s better to go to hell!”

The plot is quite simple. Offenbach, taking Gluck's opera as a basis, turned the tragedy into a farce, and the events remained the same, but presented in a humorous manner. Orpheus conspires with Pluto to get rid of his annoying wife, as a result a certain viper bites a snake (or vice versa) and Orpheus’ “priceless treasure” finally leaves out of sight; our musician is not particularly sad - he feasts with the young chorus girls. This disorder becomes known to the gods (who live in the Olympus Hotel (formerly the Valhalla Hotel)), and so Jupiter punishes Orpheus to go down to Hades and take her “treasure” back. Orpheus protests, “I don’t love you anymore!” But there is nothing to do - you will have to take the “viper” from Hades.

Here full content Orphea:

Act I
Public Opinion explains its role in the opera as the defender of morality. Her goal is to remake the story of the musician Orpheus and the beautiful Eurydice (who, being husband and wife, hate each other) into an edifying story about love and marital fidelity. Unfortunately, Eurydice secretly loves the shepherd Arista, and Orpheus secretly loves the shepherdess Chloe. When one night Orpheus confuses his wife with his mistress, everything is revealed and Eurydice demands a divorce. Orpheus, fearing the reaction of Public Opinion to the scandal, forces Eurydice to remain silent, tormenting her with his violin playing, which she cannot stand.
In the next scene, the shepherd Arist appears (in fact, it is the god Pluto in disguise) and sings a song about how he hates herding sheep.))) Eurydice discovers a trap on Arist's farm, and thinks that it was set up by Orpheus to kill her lover. In fact, the trap is the result of a conspiracy between Orpheus and Pluto to kill Eurydice so that Pluto could get her for himself, and Orpheus could gain freedom. Pluto lures Eurydice into a trap, she dies, but then discovers that death is not so bad if the god of death is in love with you.
Pluto and Eurydice joyfully and with songs descend into Hell, Orpheus got rid of his unloved wife, everyone is happy. But then Public Opinion intervenes and, threatening to ruin Orpheus’ musical career, forces him to descend into Hell and save his wife. Orpheus reluctantly agrees.

Act II
The gods and demigods fell asleep from boredom. Things get a little more fun when the goddess of the hunt, Diana, appears and sings about her new lover Actaeon. Jupiter, shocked by the behavior of his daughter, who is supposed to be a virgin goddess, turns Actaeon into a white stag. Then Pluto appears, talks about the delights of hellish life, and ultimately raises the celestials to revolt against Jupiter because of the tasteless nectar, disgusting ambrosia and the mortal melancholy of mysic life. A revolution is taking place on Olympus, but news of the arrival of Orpheus forces the gods to put on a proper appearance and not lose face in front of the Public Opinion of mortals.
Orpheus asks to return Eurydice to him, Pluto does not agree and Jupiter decides to descend to Hell to personally understand the current situation. The rest of the gods beg him to take them with him, Jupiter agrees, everyone rejoices.

Act III
Pluto is forced to hide his mistress from Jupiter and from her husband. Eurydice, left without company, is bored. Lackey John Styx does not brighten up her loneliness, but only tires her with constant stories about how he was the king of Boeotia until he died. Jupiter discovers where Eurydice is hidden and enters her prison through the keyhole, turning into a fly. They meet, fall in love and sing a love duet, and Jupiter’s part consists entirely of their humming)))). Later he reveals to Eurydice who he is and promises his help.

Act IV
The scene represents a feast of the gods in hell, where there is no nectar and ambrosia, but there is wine. Eurydice enters the feast, disguised as a bacchante, and prepares to escape, which her new lover, Jupiter, arranges for her. But the planned escape is disrupted when an invitation to dance follows.
Alas, Jupiter can only dance the old slow minuet, and everyone else finds this dance terribly boring. After the minuet comes the most famous part of the opera - “The Infernal Gallop”. (the gallop melody marked the beginning of the Can-Can dance). Everyone is dancing, but the fun is interrupted by the sad sounds of a violin, announcing the appearance of Orpheus, who has come for his wife. But Jupiter has a plan, and he promises not to give Eurydice back to her husband. According to the myth, Orpheus must not look back, otherwise he will lose Eurydice forever (which Orpheus is not at all averse to doing). But Public Opinion vigilantly watches over Orpheus and does not allow him to cheat. Then Jupiter throws lightning behind Orpheus’s back, and he jumps away from fear and looks back. Everything ends happily.

Before the New Year 2015, it’s relevant: Orpheus, hell, parody, a very young Siberian drummer, and miracles.

Leonid Shilovsky from Novosibirsk at the age of three, but actually four [*], performs the famous cancan or “infernal gallop” from Jacques Offenbach’s opera buffe “Orpheus in Hell” together with the Concert Brass Band of the Novosibirsk Philharmonic on the stage of the State concert hall named after Arnold Katz, Novosibirsk, February 19, 2014.

The video contains an excerpt from the opera buffe in 2 acts, 4 scenes “Orpheus in Hell” / “Orphée aux enfers”. Composer Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) / Jacques Offenbach. Libretto by Hector Cremieux and Ludovic Halévy. The first performance took place on October 21, 1858 in Paris. At the end of the post there will be “Orpheus in the Underworld” in the version of the French Lyon Opera.

King of the gods Jupiter and Eurydice. "Orphée aux enfers." Jupiter - Vautier, Eurydice - Jeanne Granier. Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris. Scene from a play in 1887. Photo of Atelier Nadara. via

The plot of Jacques Offenbach's operetta “Orpheus in Hell” is as follows. In a parody of ancient myth about Orpheus and his wife Eurydice, the spouses do not love each other at all. Orpheus took a liking to the shepherdess Chloe, and Eurydice had a passionate affair with the shepherd Arist, who in fact is the god of the underworld Pluto. In addition, Eurydice cannot stand the music of Orpheus.

But the main characters are insanely afraid of personalized Public Opinion. Unknown to him, Arist-Pluto persuades Orpheus to arrange an accident, as a result of which Eurydice dies. Orpheus finds freedom, and Pluto finds his beloved. However, Public Opinion demands that Orpheus descend into hell in order to return Eurydice to the world of the living.

3.

Varvara Vasilievna Strelskaya - Public opinion. Operetta "Orpheus in Hell". Alexandrinsky Theater, 1859?. via

The Olympian gods are incredibly bored on Olympus, and therefore willingly agree to help Orpheus find a wife, so as not to lose face in front of earthly Public Opinion, but at the same time to see if Pluto’s hell is as fun as he tells them. Thunderer Jupiter turned into a fly and was the first to discover Eurydice, flying into her prison. Such a strange appearance of the supreme god did not prevent passion from flaring up. The lovers decide to flee from the domain of Pluto.

4.

Actor Desiree in the role of Jupiter, according to the plot, for purposes of secrecy, dressed in a fly costume. 1858 / Désiré dans le rôle de Jupiter, en costume de mouche. 1858. via

But soon Jupiter loses his attractiveness for Eurydice: at the merry hellish feast he can only dance a sedate minuet. And everyone dances a cheerful cancan, so famous to this day. Orpheus appears. His sad violin is hated by Eurydice...

5.

Eurydice. Liz Toten. 1858 / Lise Tautin en costume d"Eurydice. 1858. via

Pluto, in order to appease Public Opinion, agrees to give the husband his wife, but on the condition not to look back before arriving in the earthly world. Suddenly lightning flashes behind Orpheus. In surprise, he looks around. Eurydice happily remains in a cheerful hell, and Orpheus returns to earthly joys.

6.

Theater poster from 1874 for the operetta "Orpheus in Hell" / 1874 playbill from a French production of Orpheus in the Underworld. Author Jules Cheret (1836-1932). via

"Orpheus in Hell" - first success French composer Jacques Offenbach in the genre, which he called opera-bouffe / opéra-bouffe. This the clearest example parody performances, which later even received the name “offenbachiad”. The composer parodies the features of serious opera and popular ancient stories, as if turning them inside out. The music of the operetta is a witty fusion of “serious” intonations, reminiscent of Mozart and Gluck, with cancan and buffoonery.

At the premiere, "Orpheus in Hell" was not a success, since the public did not understand the parody.

Only after an article by prominent theater critic Jules Janin appeared in one of the serious Parisian newspapers, in which he called the operetta a pamphlet on modernity and sharply attacked it, “Orpheus in Hell” began to enjoy enormous success. It was he who brought Offenbach fame, which was strengthened by his subsequent works.

About Lenya Shilovsky.

His parents ordinary people, father is a finisher, mother is a housewife. Simple, but not quite - very religious; as far as one can understand, adherents of one of the evangelical churches. Mom Nadya sings in the choir at an evangelical church, dad Denis plays lead guitar there during services. From the age of two, parents took the child to worship services, where he met musical instruments and a drum kit. This is how his spontaneous music studies began. He also played the pots.

The boy's father talks about his son being chosen by God. Here's why:

1. The family wanted a child for 4 years. Expectant mother Leni prayed for a long time for his message. Once, during spiritual study, an almost unknown preacher predicted the imminent birth of a child to the family. He pointed his finger at Denis and said: “In a year you will become a father.” And so it happened.

2. The boy became famous after reaching the finals of the TV show “Minute of Fame.” At a certain religious gathering, Father Denis read the words that inspired him from the Bible, then left the tent and then his spiritual sister told him that he should go to the “Minute of Glory” - Denis realized that this was a sign and followed the advice. The sign turned out to be correct.

3. No one taught the child to drum - he taught himself.

And other reasons.

By the age of four, the little drummer had already managed to please with his playing not only the TV viewers of Channel One, but also the participants of several banquets and corporate events; he was often invited to holidays and even to places such as a juvenile colony.

Parents are absolutely sure that the child is a child prodigy and has a great future ahead of him.

They say that now in the world of academic music there is unspoken rule- whoever didn’t start early was hopelessly late. On international competitions Chinese prodigies win - at the age of five they are already masters of the instrument. Thus, the young drummer Lenya “shot in time.” These are the words of the head of the concert practice of the Novosibirsk Music College.

God-chosen or simply talented, but a four-year-old boy playing with a real orchestra on the stage of the Philharmonic is a spectacle worthy of admiration.

Note:
[*] 3 years old - so in the announcement of the concert and in all the descriptions for the video where Lenya performs the cancan with the Novosibirsk orchestra, but 4 years old at the time of this performance the boy was already two months old. It’s clear why this is announced: 3 years from a PR position sounds much better; the younger the age, the greater the tenderness; and “After three it’s too late”; but all this is not important - the child on the stage of the Philharmonic is brilliant. The video caught my eye on a Spanish Facebook page - i.e. spread throughout the world. Then it turned out that the boy would be ours.

7.
In conclusion, a version of Jacques Offenbach's cancan performed by the Lyon Opera - Opera Nouvel / Opéra de Lyon, opera Nouvel.

Cancan from Jacques Offenbach's operetta "Orpheus in Hell". Lyonsky's production national theater operas, 1997.

8.
And for those who want to enjoy the full option in high quality: opera buffe "Orphee aux Enfers" on French with Russian subtitles, Opera National de Lyon.

Jacques Offenbach "Orpheus in Hell". 1997 Lyon Opera. Russian subtitles.

Eurydice - Natalie Dessay
Orphée - Yann Beuron
Aristée / Pluto - Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Jupiter - Laurent Naouri
L'Opinion Publique - Martine Olmeda
John Styx - Steven Cole
Cupidon - Cassandre Berthon
Mercure - Etienne Lescroart
Diane - Virginie Pochon
Junon - Lydie Pruvot
Venus - Maryline Fallot
Minerve - Alketa Cela
La violoniste - Sherman Pleismer

Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon
Orchestre de Chambre de Grenoble
Direction musicale - Marc Minkowski

The play takes place in “a small town in one of the southern states.” Department store owner Jabe Torrance, the leader of the local Ku Klux Klan, is brought from the hospital, where after a thorough examination the doctors concluded that his days are numbered. This living dead man, even on the threshold of the grave, is capable of instilling horror in loved ones, and although he almost does not appear on stage, the sound of his stick from above, when he calls his wife Leidy to the bed, is heard more than once ominously throughout the action.

Leidy is much younger than her husband. Twenty years ago, when she, an eighteen-year-old girl, was abandoned by David Katrir, for whom his relatives found a profitable bride, and her father’s cafe, together with her father, an Italian, who sold alcohol not only to whites, but also to blacks, was burned down by the Ku Klux Klansmen, she, left without livelihood, I had to agree to marry Torrence - in essence, sell myself. There's one thing she doesn't suspect: her husband was the leader of a wild gang the night her father died.

The store is located on the ground floor of the house where the Torrances live, and therefore Jabe's return from the hospital is seen by customers who happen to be there at that moment. Among them is local renegade Carol Katrir, sister ex-lover Leidy. She essentially lives in a car, in “her little house on wheels,” in perpetual motion, but with obligatory stops at every bar. Carol organically cannot stand loneliness, rarely spends the night alone, and in the city she is considered a nymphomaniac. Carol wasn't always like this. Once she, endowed heightened senses justice, advocated for the rights of blacks, sought free hospitals for them, and even participated in a protest march. However, the same circles that dealt with Leidy’s father also pacified this rebel.

She is the first to notice the appearance of Val in the store, who was brought here by Vi Talbet, the wife of the local sheriff, who heard that Leidy was looking for an assistant in business. "Wild Beauty" young man, a strange snakeskin jacket, his intoxicating gaze excite the former “activist”, and now an ordinary adventurer. He seems to her almost like a messenger from another civilization, but to all her advances Val briefly replies that such adventures no longer concern him. Drinking without getting dry, smoking until you stupefy, hanging around God knows where with the first person you meet - all this is good for twenty-year-old blockheads, and not for a person who has turned thirty today.

But he reacts completely differently to Leidy. Returning to the store to get a forgotten guitar, he runs into a woman. A conversation ensues, a feeling of kinship of souls arises, they are drawn to each other. It seemed to Leidy that during all these years of existence next to Jabe, she had “frozen” herself, suppressed all living feelings, but now she is gradually thawing, listening to Val’s light poetic monologue. And he talks about rare little birds that fly alone all their lives (“they have no legs at all, these little birds have their whole life on their wings, and they sleep in the wind: their wings are spread out at night, and the wind is their bed "). This is how they live and “never fly to the ground.”

Unexpectedly, Leidy begins to open up to a strange stranger, even lifting the veil over her unsuccessful marriage. She agrees to take Val to work. After Val leaves, she touches the guitar, which the young man had forgotten, and for the first time in for many years laughs easily and joyfully.

Val is a poet, his strength lies in his clear vision of the opposites of the world. For him, life is a struggle between the strong and the weak, evil and good, death and love.

But there are not only strong and weak people. There are those “on whom the brand has not yet been burned.” Val and Leidy belong to exactly this type: no matter how life turns out, their souls are free. They inevitably become lovers, and Val takes up residence in a small room adjacent to the store. Jabe doesn’t know that Val lives here, and when one day the nurse, at the request of the store owner, helps him go downstairs early in the morning, staying in Val’s shop is... complete surprise for him. Jabe instantly understands what’s what, and, in order to hurt his wife, blurts out in anger that it was he and his friends who set fire to her father’s house. It never even occurred to Leidy - she turns to stone.

Val has already become an eyesore for many in the city. The townsfolk are annoyed that he is friendly with blacks, does not hesitate to communicate with the renegade Carol Katrir, and Sheriff Tolbet is even jealous of his aging wife, with whom the young man only sympathizes: he is spiritually close to this artist, a dreamer, daydreaming and completely misunderstood by her husband. The sheriff orders Val to leave town within twenty-four hours. Meanwhile, Leidy, burning with love for Val and hatred for Jabe, is preparing to open a candy store at the store. For her, this pastry shop is something like a tribute to her father; she dreams that everything here will be like it once was in her father’s cafe near the vineyards: music will flow, lovers will make dates here. She passionately dreams that her dying husband will see before his death that the vineyard is open again! Risen from the dead!

But the premonition of triumph over her husband fades before the discovery that she is pregnant. Leidy is overjoyed. With a cry: “I defeated you. Death! I'm alive again! she runs up the stairs as if she had forgotten that Jabe was up there. And he, exhausted and yellow, overpowering himself, appears on the platform with a revolver in his hand. It seems that he really is Death itself. Leidy, frightened, rushes to the motionless Val and covers him with her body. Clinging to the railing, the old man shoots, and Leidy falls, mortally wounded. The treacherous husband throws a revolver at Leidy's feet and calls for help, shouting that the employee shot his wife and is robbing the store. Val rushes to the door - to where Carol's car is parked: the woman, even today, having learned about the sheriff's warning, offered to take him somewhere far away. Hoarse male screams and gunshots are heard behind the stage. Val couldn't get away. Leidy dies quietly on the floor. This time Death defeated Life.

Retold