Orphée aux Enfers (1997)
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.
Directors: Dirk Gryspiert, Herbert Wernicke.
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Alexandru Badea as Orphée |
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Elizabeth Vidal as Eurydice |
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Dale Duesing as Jupiter |
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Reinaldo Macias as Astrée-Pluton |
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Marie-Noëlle de Callataÿ as Cupidon |
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André Jung as John Styx |
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Desirée Meiser as L'Opinion Publique |
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Laurence Misonne as Minerve |
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Michele Patzakis as Vénus |
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Sonja Theodoridou as Diane |
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Jacqueline van Quaille as Junon |
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Franck Cassard as Mercure |
| Sound | Jacques Offenbach | Original Music Composer |
| Directing | Dirk Gryspiert | Director |
| Writing | Jules Barbier | Writer |
| Directing | Herbert Wernicke | Director |
| Writing | E. T. A. Hoffmann | Original Story |
| Sound | Patrick Davin | Conductor |
