Overture (Orphée aux enfers)

Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld was first given in Paris in October 1858 as a two-act opéra bouffon, and its picture of Olympus as a household of idle bureaucrats was read at once as commentary on the Second Empire. The overture usually heard in concert is not Offenbach's own: the original opens with a brief introduction, while the familiar three-part piece — slow opening, violin solo, can-can — was assembled by Carl Binder for the Vienna production of 1860. It has been played independently ever since, and is often the only part of the score an orchestral audience meets.