In the comic opera Orphée aux Enfers, master satirist Jacques Offenbach gives the classical myth a twist. Eurydice hates Orfeo’s music, rejects her bourgeois life and travels to the underworld with her lover Pluto. The gods, bored with their rich and powerful lives, decide to follow Eurydice. Their appearance in the underworld eventually leads to an extravagant, cheerful and liberating party.

After the success of Fantasio (2019), Benjamin Prins is again directing an opera by Offenbach at Opera Zuid. Orphée aux Enfers is a parody of antiquity and shows the conflict between hell and paradise. The magic of the gods fits in seamlessly with the vibrant music of Offenbach. ‘The music is vulnerable like a bubble and extremely extravagant.’ Under the direction of Benjamin Prins, the opera is not only set in antiquity, but the piece also responds to current events. “I’m going to play with timelines.” With a trip to the 18th century, a nod to politicians from the 21st century and so we return to the Athenian Acropolis in ancient times.

Orphée aux Enfers is performed in French with Dutch and English surtitles.