(1819 - 1880)

Jacques Offenbach was born Jakob Eberst on June 20, 1819, in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Isaac and Marianne Eberst. Isaac left his native Offenbach-am-Main about 1800 for Cologne, where he became known as "Der Offenbacher" and thensimply "Offenbach." He earned a living from bookbinding, music teaching, and composition, and was later cantor at a synagogue in Cologne. Jakob was the second son in the family, the seventh of ten children.

Jakob's musical talents first emerged at the age of six, when his father gave him violin lessons. In November of 1833, Jakob was accepted as a cello student of Luigi Cherubini at the Paris Conservatory. But he did not enjoy studying at the Conservatory, and dropped out the following year. He realized that he wanted to pursue a career in theater rather than being devoted to academic study. Around 1834, Offenbach found employment as a cellist in the pit orchestra of the Opera-Comique. He quickly learned theatrical orchestration and composition skills from the Opera chorus master, Fromental Halevy. Jakob, now known as "Jacques," tried to establish himself as a composer, but without much success. In 1839, he briefly turned back to cello playing, and performed in local salons. Jacques became so successful that he gave up his position with the Opera-Comique and became a "society entertainer" instead.

He achieved fame and recognition as a performer, but increasingly started to poke fun at the same music that made him famous. In 1843, he first received recognition as a composer with his Grosse Concert-Phantasie and his best-selling song, "A Toi," both cello pieces. Although Jacques was considered to be a masterful cellist, he was also known for the unusual sounds and imitations he would make with his instrument. After a successful tour of London in 1844, he married Herminie d'Alcain on August 14th. Offenbach reached a low point in his life when his father died in April, 1850. Jacques had little money and no progress with his ambitions. But his luck soon changed when Arsene Houssaye, Director of the Comedie Francaise, hired him as the new orchestra conductor.

Jacques accepted the offer, and threw all of his energy into the endeavor. He expanded and improved the orchestra. But after so many years of failing to get his works staged, Offenbach opened his own theater in July, 1855, called the "Theater des Bouffes-Parisiens." The success of both the theater and Offenbach's growing repertoire of satirical works led him to give up his job at the Comedie Francaise at the end of the year.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the French government wanted nothing to compete with government-sponsored grand opera productions. So a bizarre law limited independent theater managers to using no more than three speaking or singing characters in any musical entertainment. Jacques Offenbach was an acclaimed cellist in his native Germany, but he emigrated to Paris to pursue his dream of composing for the theater. He envisioned a blend of operatic vocals, catchy melodies and comic plots. When his early works were rejected by the celebrated Opera Comique de Paris, the exasperated Offenbach decided to produce the shows himself – an unheard of idea at that time. He leased the tiny Theatres des Bouffes-Parisiens and presented one-act comic musicals that he called "operettes." Caught between his limited finances and the demands of that cockeyed law, each production had three singers and perhaps a mute character to help flesh-out the cast.

His first big success was Le Violoneux, which opened on August 31st. He also attracted attention for his "Chinese musical," Ba-ta-clan, which debuted on December 29th. By now, Offenbach's satirical works were more in demand. He often wrote them quickly, but always with at least one appealing or "catchy" song that the audience could easily remember.

Offenbach was now more confident in his abilities as a composer, and realized that he was developing a new opera genre--the "operette" or "operetta." It was shorter than the typical opera, with a more graceful and lighthearted style like the typical 18th century comic opera. Offenbach tended to incorporate all kinds of popular and traditional songs into his operettas in order to appeal to everyone. His flexible composition style always strove to meet public demands.

Despite the apparent success of the Bouffes-Parisiens, financial troubles soon piled up. Offenbach tended to spend money recklessly on lavish costumes, scenery, and furnishings. He even had to flee to Brussels in 1857 and again in 1858, to avoid bill collectors. He desperately needed a new hit to help him out. Jacques found it in his first two-act operetta, Orphee aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld), which opened on October 21, 1858. To the audience, it merely seemed like a satire of a classical story, with a catchy "can-can" theme. Little did they realize that this was an innovative work of genius, and the debut of the operetta genre. But Orpheus proved to be a great success, and temporarily solved Offenbach's financial problems. In 1860, he became a naturalized French citizen, and in August 1861 was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion d'honneur. By this time, Jacques was beginning to experience health problems, probably due to his rigorous work schedule. In order to somewhat alleviate his health, he went to the Bad Ems resort each summer--which was not only a fashionable attraction, but also had a casino. In 1862, Offenbach produced Les Bavards at the resort's theater, which became a successful two-act comic opera in February, 1863.

The 1860's were a successful decade for Offenbach. After Les Bavards, his next successful work was La Belle Helene, a burlesque of the Trojan War and of grand opera, which debuted at the Palais-Royal on December 17, 1864. One of his greatest operettas, La Vie Parisienne, a satire of cosmopolitan life and industrialization, debuted at the Palais-Royal on October 31, 1866. This work seemed to best reflect Offenbach's character with its balance of satire and French loyalty. The World Exhibition of 1867 sparked the success of his next great operetta, La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, a sly attack on militarism and unpredictable rulers, which opened on April 3rd. It even attracted renowned figures such as the Prince of Wales. La Périchole, which opened on October 6, 1868, reflected the public's growing preference for more romantic operettas. Rossini summed it up, calling Offenbach the Mozart of the Champs-Elysees.

Offenbach in Philadelphia On April 22, 1876, Offenbach traveled to America to improve his luck. The Americans greatly admired and respected the composer's works. He made several concert appearances in New York, and at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876. The tour helped establish Offenbach as a renowned composer in America. He returned to France on July 8th.

The final opera that Offenbach worked on during the last few years of his life was Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), based on a play written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre. After having seen the play in the 1840's, Offenbach had always hoped to write an opera based on the same story. He finally began to work on Les Contes d'Hoffmann in 1878. But his health was rapidly failing, and he was unable to finish the opera before he died on October 5, 1880. Ernest Guirard completed the opera in 1881. Les Contes d'Hoffmann was considered to be Offenbach's most in-depth work.