I AM a big fan of White Horse Opera, Devizes’ own opera company. Over the years they have introduced me to memorable works such as Norma, Samson and Delilah and even the bizarre Count Ory.

So I approached their latest show last week at the Corn Exchange with great anticipation. Perhaps this was the source of my feelings of disappointment as this strange mixture of operetta and farce unfolded.

Offenbach chose the mythological theme of Orpheus and Eurydice to highlight the battle between public moralilty and the lack of it among the ruling class. Nothing changes there, at least in France.

Eurydice is bored with her musician husband Orpheus but her dallyings lead her to fall victim to Pluto, the god of the Underworld, who takes her down to Hell, where everyone seems to be having a high old time.

In the meantime, the gods on Olympus are bored and force Jupiter to take them slumming in Hell as well. You probably know the rest, as Orpheus comes to reclaim his wife but on the way back to Earth he looks round and she is damned forever.

Musically the production is a delight. Conductor Arne Kovac has a strong grip on Offenbach’s delightful score. The singing is wonderful throughout, with particularly good contributions from Rebecca Hiller as Eurydice, Tom Magnone as Orpheus, Jon Paget as Pluto and Alexandra Denman as a rather dowdy Public Opinion.

Graham Billing as John Styx, Barbara Gompels as Diana, Dajana Kovac as Venus and Paula Boyagis as Cupid are also excellent.

But, as in Die Fledermaus, when the music stops, so does the magic. The English translation is trite and the humour leaden.

Chrissie Higgs, in her first outing as stage director, does as good a job as she can with the material at her disposal and everyone on stage seems to be having a ball, especially in the Can Can at the end.