 From the outset "Orphée aux enfers" divided critical opinion.Janin's furious condemnation did the work much more good than harm, and was in contrast with the laudatory review of the premiere by Jules Noriac in the "Figaro-Programme", which called the work, "unprecedented, splendid, outrageous, gracious, delightful, witty, amusing, successful, perfect, tuneful".Bertrand Jouvin, in "Le Figaro", criticised some of the cast but praised the staging – "a fantasy show, which has all the variety, all the surprises of fairy-opera".