First performed in 1858, Orpheus in the Underworld is an Italian opera by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach that is widely considered to be the first classical full-length operetta. The opera is a parody on Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, an opera based on the myth of Orpheus, with sharp satire focused on the scandals and politics of the Second French Empire. Initially shocking for its harsh criticisms of power, Orpheus in the Underworld was ahead of its time and condemned by critics, naturally encouraging the public to go see it.
