Orpheus in the Underworld 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 1858, is said to be the first classical full-length operetta. Offenbach's earlier operettas were small-scale one-act works, since the law in France did not allow full-length works of certain genres. "Orpheus" was not only longer, but more musically adventurous than Offenbach's
Orpheus Club of Philadelphia Louise Homer, operatic contralto; David Bisham, baritone (coincidentally a member of the Orpheus Club and a star of the Metropolitan Opera); Noah Swayne and Wilbur Evans, bassos (also members of the Orpheus Club). The members of the Orpheus Club established a tradition of performing for charity as early as June 9, 1873, when they gave an open-air concert at Belmont Mansion for the benefit of the Children's Hospital. A favorite Club tradition is private singing after rehearsals, when members retire to an upstairs meeting room at the Club house for a Round Table, which involves the participation of guests who