Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée aux enfers, 1858) is a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach (pictured) and words by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was extensively revised and expanded in 1874 for a run that broke box-office records at the Théâtre de la Gaîté, Paris. In the opera, a lampoon of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus is a rustic violin teacher who is glad to be rid of his wife when she is abducted by the god of the underworld. The reprehensible conduct of the gods of Olympus was widely seen as a veiled satire of the court and government of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. Some critics expressed outrage at the librettists' disrespect for classic mythology and the composer's parody of Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice; others praised the piece highly. It was Offenbach's first full-length opera and remains the one that is most often performed. Can-can cabaret acts still use its "Galop infernal", adopted later in the 19th century by the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_in_the_Underworld

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1261:

Alexios Strategopoulos led the Nicaean forces of Michael VIII Palaiologos to recapture Constantinople, re-establish the Byzantine Empire, and end the Latin Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexios_Strategopoulos

1898:

Spanish–American War: After over two months of sea-based bombardment, the United States invaded Puerto Rico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico_Campaign

1965:

Bob Dylan, who had previously been known for folk music, gave a controversial performance at the Newport Folk Festival playing songs with an electric guitar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dylan_controversy

1969:

Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would not "undertake all the defense of the free nations of the world", beginning the Vietnamization of the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_Doctrine

2007:

Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first female president of India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratibha_Patil

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

aspheterism: (dated, rare) The view that all property should be in common ownership and that no individual should benefit from private possession. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aspheterism

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If by politeness then is meant goodness, it is appreciated by me as I trust it always has been, but if it is to mean the string of ceremonies generally used for concealing ill nature, and which have been found necessary to the existence of every society whose members are wanting in self respect and morality, I detest it more than ever. My prominent idea of a polite man is one who is nothing but polish. It is an unenviable reputation. If there was anything else in him the polish would never be noticed. He is a bad drawing finely worked up, and Gérôme says that every attempt at finish on a bad design serves only to make the work more contemptible.   --Thomas Eakins https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Eakins