What do a can-can, an attempted 75-minute violin concerto, and Hades have in common? Nope, it’s not another pitiful orchestra joke. You’ll find them all in Offenbach’s hit operetta Orphée aux Enfers. Orpheus in the Underworld (for us non-Francophiles) is based on the classic legend of Orpheus’s pursuit of his wife Eurydice, who was carried off to Hades by Pluto (much to the annoyance of Jupiter). In Greek mythology, Orpheus was the greatest human musician, so naturally, the name must be linked to Juilliard in some way. The Juilliard Opera Theater will present this lively comic gem on March 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. in the Juilliard Theater.

Costume sketches for Eurydice (right) and Venus. (Sketches by Christianne Myers)

"The music is irresistible," says the production’s director, Ned Canty. "I am drawn to the spirit of the piece." The dream ballet sequence of the popular American film Singin’ In the Rain and the tough-talking female reporters from another film, His Girl Friday, inspired several of Canty’s directorial decisions in this production of Orphée. He and costume designer Christianne Myers and scene designer Troy Houry "got into a groove very quickly," he notes. When asked in what period they were planning to set the piece, Canty resisted labeling the production as "set" in the 1920s: "The world of this production of Orphée will resemble the world of the 1920s, though there will be no historical correlations."

The greatest challenge Canty says he faces in this production is maintaining the very specific style and tone of the work. He describes Orphée aux Enfers as a "soufflé piece." "It’s a very light story, so we have to keep energy in each moment to make the piece successful," he explains. "The slightest thing can make it fall."

French coach Thomas Grubb translated and updated the satirical libretto of Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy for this production. French arias will be linked with spoken English dialogue in this production, much like in a German singspiel. However, translations of jokes, puns, and other idiomatic expressions in the original libretto posed a problem, especially when Grubb was presented with the challenge of setting it in a four-foot rhyme scheme. He recounted a late night at work on the task, when rhyming was becoming particularly difficult. Grubb set the name of Orpheus’ wife, Eurydice, (usually pronounced [ju ’ri di si]) as [ju ‘ra diS] or "you’re a dish." "I just wanted to finish; I thought I would go back and fix it another time," Grubb confesses. "But the director liked it so much, we’re leaving it in!"

Jacques Offenbach left his native Germany in 1833 and headed to Paris, where he earned a living as a cellist in the Opéra Comique and wrote more than 100 operettas that blended high spirits and absurdity with moments of delicate emotion. Such wit won him the joking approval of Rossini, who dubbed him "the Mozart of the Champs-Elysées." Other Offenbach compositions include the ballet Le Papillon and the Concerto Militaire for cello and orchestra. His only serious opera (and possibly his most famous work), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), was left unfinished, and published posthumously.

Written in 1858, Orphée aux Enfers was Offenbach’s first full-length operetta. Its lively, witty, and melodious qualities brought instant success and elevated his preceding, mostly unfamiliar works into a recognizable genre. The music was carefully designed to highlight troupes of specialty artists, including actors who specialized in exploiting a physical, emotional, or vocal trait of a character to make him as funny as possible.

Composers have always been attracted to the story of Orpheus. The oldest extant opera score—L’Euridice, by Jacopo Peri (1600)—is based on the myth. The overture in Offenbach’s version of the story is known the world over. A bristling fanfare opens the piece, followed by a tender love song, an "infernal" passage, a fairly complex waltz, and, at last, the renowned can-can.

So, even if scandalous satire, the intrigue of hell, and brash can-cans haven’t hooked you, the terrific singing of the Juilliard Opera Theater should knock your socks off. Come and check it out on March 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. in the Juilliard Theater. The performance is free and no tickets are required.

Susanna Phillips is a third-year voice student.