 Among 21st-century writers Bernard Holland has commented that the music is "beautifully made, relentlessly cheerful, reluctantly serious", but does not show as the later "Tales of Hoffmann" does "what a profoundly gifted composer Offenbach really was"; Andrew Lamb has commented that although "Orphée aux enfers" has remained Offenbach's best-known work, "a consensus as to the best of his operettas would probably prefer "La vie parisienne" for its sparkle, "La Périchole" for its charm and "La belle Hélène" for its all-round brilliance".Kurt Gänzl writes in "The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre" that compared with earlier efforts, "Orphée aux enfers" was "something on a different scale ... a gloriously imaginative parody of classic mythology and of modern events decorated with Offenbach’s most laughing bouffe music.