Orpheus in the Underworld Gable, conducted by Alexander Faris. 1997: The Lyon production is also issued on DVD with Minkowski conducting, Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Yann Beuron and others in a production by Laurent Pelly (TDK DV-OPOAE). This is basically the two-act version. Orpheus in the Underworld Orphée aux enfers, whose title translates from the French as Orpheus in the Underworld, is an opéra bouffon (a form of operetta), or opéra féerie in its revised version. Its score was composed by Jacques Offenbach to a French text written by Ludovic Halévy and later revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux. The work, first performed in
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus power of the music and lyrics, the set draws on Cave’s compelling persona: part priest, part sideshow barker--crooning one moment and eviscerating the next. While this has always been the core of his talent, on "Abattoir/Lyre" it is particularly rich and rewarding." In a more mixed assessment, Douglas Wolk, writing in "Spin", was complimentary of "Abattoir Blues" but felt that "The Lyre of Orpheus" was "effectively "Abattoir" spillover: more mellow, less grand in conception, but—somehow—more pretentious in execution." In his Consumer Guide for "The Village Voice", Robert Christgau designated three songs from the album ("The Lyre of Orpheus", "There She