Jacques Offenbach

After a number of years as a successful cello virtuoso, German born, Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880) turned his attention to conducting and writing operettas; his biggest success coming in 1858 with Orpheus in the Underworld (from which the famous Can-Can is taken). There then began a sequence of classic works that happily poked fun of the social mores of the Second Empire. It also make Offenbach fabulously wealthy.

Offenbach's downfall came at the same time as the fall of the Second Empire following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. Fippery and satire were frowned upon and Offenbach's German parentage also caused him much criticism forcing him and his family into temporary exile. After a number of years touring, Offenbach returned to his adopted homeland where his relationship with the Parisian audiences was restored. His masterpiece, Les Contes de Hoffmann was left unfinished at his death in 1880.

Key Works: La Belle Hélène, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein, Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld), La Pericholé, Gaité parisienne (arr. Rosenthal)

Key Artists: Richard Bonynge, Placido Domingo, Natalie Dessay, Marc Minkowski, Joan Sutherland