Overture:

This is hearty and light music, loved by the world and often played alone. At the end, you can hear the famous Garop dance that appears in the final scene of the play. This tune is generally called the cancan dance, and it creates a very happy atmosphere.

Act 1:

Scene 1: The wilderness on the outskirts of Tebai City.

Thebai is a Greek city with a peaceful pastoral scene. In front of the hut on the right hangs the sign "Alister the Honey Maker", and in front of the hut on the left hangs the sign "Orfeo the Music Director". But before the actual opening, the "public opinion" who plays an important role in the play (equivalent to the Chorus in Greek tragedy) appears first and sings the prelude before the curtain opens. He expressed that he wanted to use the chorus in the Greek tragedy as a substitute to further fully reflect his own opinions in this drama.

After the public opinion faded away, Orfeo’s beautiful wife appeared. While picking flowers, she sang a love song: "The husband only loves the violin and other girls", so as if to retaliate, she also fell in love with the shepherd Alister, who was younger than herself. She picked these flowers to give to the shepherd. In fact, Alister is Prudon, the King of Hell. In order to abduct Eurydice, he transformed into a young shepherd and lived next door to Orfeo's house.

At this time Orfeo appeared, and what he held in his hand was no longer the mythical lira but the violin. He didn't figure out that it was his wife. When he saw Euridice's back, he thought it was his beloved shepherdess Cheluoai (actually the river goddess Nymph), so he started playing a serenade of love on the violin. But soon after, both of them discovered that the other was not devoted in love and was having an affair, which turned into a quarrelsome duet.

After learning that his wife fell in love with the neighbor's shepherd, Orfeo said angrily: "Don't you even love this violin anymore?" Then he played the violin like a madman. She was like a roaring lioness, shouting hysterically that enough was enough. Orfeo pointed meaningfully and said, "There is something strange in the wheat field over there," and then left. And Eurydice murmured: "There, the shepherd and I enjoyed many moments of love. I must be more careful." After that, she also left.

Although Euridice once shouted nervously: "We will break up today", Orfeo was afraid of the condemnation of public opinion and did not dare to be too willful, so he quietly put a poisonous snake into Eurydice's house. Dixi often had trysts with shepherds in the wheat fields, and then went to the music house.

At this time the shepherd Alister appeared on the stage and sang: "My nature is". In this beautiful aria, he reveals how he gave Orfeo a dream and instigated him to put poisonous snakes in the wheat field, and then said happily that as long as Euridice is bitten by the poisonous snake, he can take her to his own hell. country.

Then Euridice came back, and Ariste said loudly to her: "You cannot walk into the wheat field, because your husband has set a trap there!" But Euridice was very determined. He said: "As long as it's for you, I'm willing to go through fire and water!" Then he walked into the wheat field with him. As expected, he was bitten by a poisonous snake and nearly died, but he was happily carried into the arms of Prudhon and carried away to the land of hell.

When Orfeo came back and learned that his wife was dead, he was not only not sad at all, but also very happy. He immediately wanted to go to the shepherdess he loved. But public opinion appeared at the right time, dissuaded him and ordered: "For the sake of future generations, you must go to the land of hell to bring your wife back." He asked Orfeo to go to the kingdom of heaven with him and ask the great god Jupiter to return his wife to him. Orfeo agreed, played the famous melody "Che faro senza Euridice" (Che faro senza Euridice) from Gluck's opera "Orfeo" on the violin, and set off for the kingdom of heaven under the auspices of the children of the music school.

Scene 2: Mount Olympus.

At this time, there were white clouds on Mount Olympus, and the great god Jupiter, his wife Junon and other gods were taking a nap. When Mofei, the god of sleep, wakes up, he sprinkles the flowers of sleep medicine on everyone's eyes. The trumpet of Dayana, goddess of the hunt, sounded, and all the gods woke up. Diane, who appeared on the stage at this time, sang the aria: "Quand Diane descend dans la plaine" (Quand Diane descend dans la plaine), lamenting that her lover Action was no longer there. She seemed to be sad, but Sing happily.

The waking gods all accused the great god Jupiter of being like a tyrant, so they borrowed the melody of "Marseillaise" to stir up the atmosphere of resistance. At this time, rumors spread that a beautiful woman named Eurydice had been abducted in the human world. When Junon heard about it, he immediately suspected that it was his husband Jupiter who had done it, and he became jealous. However, Megur (the god of travel), who went to hell to investigate, came back and reported that the person who abducted Euridice was Prudon, the king of hell.

So Jupiter summoned Proudhon to the Kingdom of Heaven for questioning and reprimanding. However, the gods headed by Venus believed that Jupiter himself often abducted good women and flirted with women in the mortal world. His own conduct was already very problematic, so how could he condemn others? This is why the rondo "To Tempt the Faithful Arc" Mena". As a result, the scene was chaotic and Junon became jealous.

At this moment, public opinion led Orfeo to the stage. The musician begged Jupiter to return his wife Eurydice to him.

Jupiter sympathized with him very much and decided to take the gods to hell to find Euridice. The curtain ended in the chorus.

Act 2:

Scene 1: Hell. Proudhon's private house.

Euridice was locked in this room, feeling extremely aggrieved and intolerable. After the door was pushed open, Proudhon's manservant John Stix appeared. He sang: "When I was the King of Beodie" (one version is "When I was the Prince of Arcadia") and wooed Eurydice, but she evaded his attack. At this moment someone came over, and the manservant immediately hid Euridice. Proudhon and Jupiter appeared on the stage together. Jupiter teased: "It is very comfortable for you to have a private room in hell. I will also build a room like this in Olympus." Although he was very alert and noticed Eurydice was hidden here, but she still asked where Prudhon was. Prudhon argued, "I didn't abduct her," and then hurriedly wanted to take him to the banquet hall, and the two left together.

After a while, Jupiter came back with the police officer to search. Since the door was locked, this time he turned into a fly and flew into Euridice's room through the keyhole. At this time, she was bored and lonely, and while chasing the beautiful golden fly, she sang the aria: "What a lovely fly", and then turned into a duet with the fly. This fly actually seduces her, and the mood is extremely pleasant and humorous, sometimes inserting a ballet of flies.

At this time, Jupiter revealed his identity and told Euridice that he would take her to Mount Olympus. She immediately agreed and disguised herself as a witch to attend the banquet with the great god. and decided to run away together. A coloratura imitation is added to this duet, taking the tune of the French ballad "Brother Jack".

Scene 2: The big banquet in hell.

At this time, all the gods in heaven and earth were invited to participate in this grand gathering of wine ponds and meat forests. After Euridice, disguised as the witch Bacchus, sang the aria, there was a spirited chorus of the gods. Everyone happily enjoyed the fine wines and entered into the dancing scene. Minuets and gallops swayed one after another, and Euridice and Jupiter danced among the crowd.

When they were waiting for an opportunity to escape from the scene, Prudon came to stop them and advised the great god not to abduct Eurydice because he had an appointment with Orfeo. At this time, Orfeo played the violin, sat in the boat rowed by public opinion, and went upstream along the Santu River. Together they arrived at the scene of the hell banquet. He asked Jupiter to return his wife to him as agreed. Jupiter returned Eurydice to him, but warned him not to look back at his wife until he had crossed the Santu River. Orfeo held his wife's hand and took a boat to return to the world. Public opinion encouraged him and asked him to be patient, but Orfeo did not look back at Eurydice curiously. Jupiter was furious when he saw this scene, so there was a sudden roar, followed by thunder and lightning, and Orpheus looked back in horror to see what was going on. Although public opinion was confused by this accident, Orfeo was happy because he could finally return to the earth and meet the Shepherdess. Prudon shouted that Euridice must stay in the land of hell for now, but the great god Jupiter announced that he decided to make her a witch of the god of wine. Then Bacchus, the god of wine, sat down with grapes. A sedan chair made of rattan appeared on the stage, leading everyone to have fun with the cheerful Jialup dance. The curtain falls.

Responsible Person

Composer: Jacques Offenbach

Column Keywords: Other Repertoire

Auxiliary Category Item: Opera