Orpheus in the Underworld

Sung in English with surtitles

Offenbach, dubbed by Rossini as the Mozart of the Champs Elysées, pokes hilarious fun at po-faced classical opera in general and Gluck in particular, as Orpheus is dragged to Hell to rescue an unwilling wife, accompanied by the Gods, in search of Bacchanalian joy.

The opera is chock full of glorious music and is perhaps best known for the rousing 'Galop Infernal’, later adopted by the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergère to accompany the 'can-can'. Simon Butteriss adapts and directs what promises to be an outrageously joyous version of Offenbach’s comic masterpiece.

A new If Opera production featuring the Bristol Ensemble

Conductor - Michael Waldron 
Director - Simon Butteriss
Associate Designer - Elliott Squire