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A CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION BECOMES A LASTING LESSON
of Public Opinion), Eurydice is creating a garland of flowers collected during
her song and then she is placing it on the door of the shepherd Aristaeus’
hut. The couplet is extremely frivolous, as she does not want to hear from her
husband, Orpheus ever again — “N’en dites rien 4 mon mari, / Car c’est pour
le berger joli / Qui loge ici.” —, but she welcomes the shepherd’s courtship, in
whose disguise, without her knowing it, Pluto, the master of the underworld,
woos her. Later she has a duet with Orpheus, director of the Orphéon in
Thebes,” emotionally unstable too, and chasing a nymph now, which duet
becomes a family quarrel, including the husband’s violin concerto, since
he knows that her wife cannot stand it. In the adaptation made by Gyérgy
Hámos (after the girls" wedding song and dance) Eurydice’s song is full of
deep feelings for her fiancé: "My heart trembles when I see you, / It beats so
fast, / My troubles melt into a soft smile / When I think of you". Her duet
with Orpheus is the mutual expression of love until the grave, after some
bantering, in which the violin solo sounds conciliating. According to critics,
this opening, indeed an inverse of the original, showed that Hamos “had
recognized and improved the beautiful poetic values of the authentic myth
of Orpheus with its ideological power, which still has an impact today”.””
In addition to the lofty and heroic plot, which culminated in the repeated
and increasingly resilient singing of Orpheus’ song for peace,’”” some well¬
written characters were also appreciated. Vulcan, for example, who is “the
type of right-wing Social Democrat, referring constantly to his non-existent
masses and workworn hands until he is exposed and beaten by self-conscious
workers”.””® Or “the progressive, little Cupid, who bravely opposes the
Olympus for the sake of the lovers, then leaves the gods and sides with the
people, because she understands that true and happy love can only flourish in
a country of peace and freedom”.”” The third act was also praised for making
275 Cf. “The French word Orphéon, deriving from the name of Orpheus, referred to the art lover’s
choir movement in the 19 century, whose society was formed in Paris in 1833, in the year of
Offenbach’s arrival at the French capital. [...] Similar choral groups were formed throughout
France later, and the Orphéon in Paris was also responsible for overseeing music education
at schools. [...] Several French composers were active in this movement, for example Charles
Gounod, who was director of the Orphéon in Paris from 1852 to 1860 — i.e. at the time of
the premiere of Offenbach’s operetta — and wrote choir works for men, two masses and some
smaller choral works.” Péter Bozo: ,Orphée a l’envers”. Egy idézet a francia zenés színpadi
hagyomány kontextusában, Part 1, Muzsika 53:10 (2010), 13.
Bacsó: Orfeusz, 5.
277 There was a critic who tried to decipher the meaning and symbolic content of this song. Cf.
"György Hámoss Orpheus is singing not only to beasts and rocks, but also primarily to the
276
people. His song embodies human understanding and creativity, which fights against the
blindness of power. It represents the awakening human consciousness, which fights tyranny
that crushes humanity. It symbolizes the human will for peace and happiness, which is
capable of controlling violence and wars.” Ibid.
278 Ibid.
279 Thid.
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