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
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