Organization

Conductor

Jesús López-Cobos

Stage director

Götz Friedrich

Singer

Tenor

Donald Groves

Orpheus

Soprano

Julia Migenes

Eurydice

George Shirley

Aristaeus / Pluto

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Orchestra

Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Others

Choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin

German

Orphée aux enfers -  (Orpheus in the Underworld)

Berlin

Germany

"Orpheus in der Unterwelt", Offenbach’s satirical answer to Gluck’s “Orfeo”, was premiered in Paris 1858 and portrays society as amoral, the upper class as lax and indifferent to all and public opinion in charge of both.

In the early 1980s legendary director Götz Friedrich created his own contemporary version of the operetta at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in German, filled with allusions to the contemporary cultural scene and society in general. Starring a large cast of renowned artists – singers and actors – Orpheus’ odyssey to the Olympic Gods and to the Underworld, in order to save his wife, receives a new face – away from Paris in the 19th century and to bourgeois West-Berlin. The performance stars Julia Migenes Johnson, Donald Grobe, Astrid Varnay and George Shirley, to name but a few. Jesús López Cobos has the musical direction in this production.

Orpheus in the Underworld by Offenbach, From (1984/1984), Directed by Götz Friedrich,, Conductor Jesús López-Cobos, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Videos

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues