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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 wellwritten 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. + 64 +
