DVD + Blu-Ray:
Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers from Salzburg Festival

“An incredible combination of nonsense, surrealism and fantasy” (Barrie Kosky) – “A frantic and fabulous show” (New York Times).

Operetta enthusiast Barrie Kosky has landed a gigantic success with Offenbach’s subversive and hilarious reversion of the Orpheus myth at the Salzburg Festival. Kosky created a magically precise and witty staging with numerous extravagant costumes in a glittering opulent scenery and a literally devilish choreography.
For the dialogues he has found an impressively ingenious solution as they are not spoken by the singers. Rather they are performed by the brilliant German actor Max Hopp as John Styx “who performs a true vocal miracle” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) in a slapstick-like manner.
The superb cast impresses with virtuoso singing as well as ravishingly comedic acting, first and foremost the American coloratura soprano Kathryn Lewek as Eurydice “with crystal clear coloraturas and sovereign top tones” (Salzburger Nachrichten), the Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter as severe L’Opinion publique or the Austrian bass baritone Martin Winkler as foolish father of the gods Jupiter. Under the Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola’s precise conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker provide an exquisite “sparkling orchestral sound” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

Original title Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers from Salzburg Festival
Genre Opéra bouffon
Recording location Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg Festival, August 2019
Duration 140 mins
Production Company A co-production of UNITEL, ORF and ZDF in cooperation with ARTE, Wiener Philharmoniker and Salzburg Festival
Composer Jacques Offenbach
Orchestra / Band Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor Enrique Mazzola
Choir Vocalconsort Berlin
Chorus Master David Cavelius
Stage Director Barrie Kosky
Soloist Joel Prieto, Kathryn Lewek, Max Hopp, Anne Sofie von Otter, Marcel Beekman, Martin Winkler