Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach
Birth name	Jacques Offenbach
Born	20 June 1819 Deutz (near Cologne, Germany)
Died	5 October 1880 Paris, France
Genre(s)	Romantic
Occupation(s)	Composer, Conductor, Violinist, Cellist

Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880), composer and cellist of the Romantic era, was one of the originators of the operetta form. His light comical compositions reflected the ease and frivolity of life in France during the late 19th century. Offenbach sought to explore a universe of flamboyant French feeling by composing his music for others to enjoy. Such unselfishness made him very popular and his light compositions were transformed into numerous opera comiques and operettas.

Biography

Offenbach was born in Cologne, Germany and was the son of Isaac Juda Eberst a cantor, bookbinder, music teacher and composer. His father was living at a time when the Napoleonic edict required that Jews had to take inheritable family names. An itinerant violinist, he adopted the name Offenbach since he was already known to his audiences as a native of Offenbach am Main called "der Offenbacher." His son received the name "Jakob Offenbach" at birth, though he changed it to Jacques when he settled in France.

Offenbach moved to Paris in 1833 to study the cello. He found employment playing cello in the orchestra of the Opéra Comique, and wrote many pieces for the instrument. In 1844, he converted to Catholicism and married Herminie de Alcain. He returned to Germany with his wife and daughter in 1848 to avoid revolutionary violence in France, but returned a year later to become the musician most closely associated with the reign of Louis Napoleon (III). In 1850 he became conductor of the Théâtre Français, but in 1855 rented his own theatre, the Bouffes Parisiens on the Rue de Monsigny, and began a successful career devoted largely to operetta and opéras comiques until his death.

Well-known works

His most popular works are still performed regularly today. His best-known operettas in the English-speaking world are Orpheus in the Underworld, La vie parisienne, La belle Hélène, La Périchole, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein. Offenbach's final opera, The Tales of Hoffmann, was more serious than his other works, perhaps reflecting the eternal wish of the clown to be taken seriously. It was still unfinished at his death in 1880, but was completed by his friend Ernest Guiraud and premiered in 1881.

Gaîté Parisienne is an often heard ballet score which is a pastiche of Offenbach melodies arranged and garishly orchestrated by Manuel Rosenthal in 1938. Another posthumous work, Myriame et Daphné, with a libretto by Philippe Gille, debuted in 1907.

An 1895 poster

Offenbach is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris, France.

Legacy

Offenbach's recognition was in his 'Can-can' music as well as his operettas or light operas with a dialogue. He had the unique ability in creating beautifully flowing melodies which was what audiences wanted to hear and the Parisian population in the mid to late 19th century especially enjoyed music and drama of a simple and frivolous nature. Offenbach appreciated such notoriety as a very popular compose; however, he was concerned about his musical legacy; thus, he wrote the satiric opera "Orpheus in the Underworld," which caused an upheaval in the French musical community. He also wrote one fully operatic masterpiece, Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann).

Works

Offenbach wrote 97 complete works for the stage (of which 94 were performed). They are as follows (complete list):

• L'alcôve
• Blanche
• La Duchesse d'Albe
• Le trésor à Mathurin (revised as Le mariage aux lanternes)
• Pépito
• Luc et Lucette
• Le décaméron, ou La grotte d'azur
• Entrez, messieurs, mesdames
• Un nuit blanche
• Les deux aveugles
• Le rêve d'une nuit d'été
• Oyayaie, ou La reine des îles
• Le violoneux
• Madame Papillon
• Paimpol et Périnette
• Ba-ta-clan
• Un postillon en gage
• Tromb-al-ca-zar, ou Les criminels dramatiques
• La rose de Saint-Flour
• Les dragées du baptême
• Le 66
• Le financier et le savetier
• La bonne d'enfant(s)
• Les trois baisers du diable
• Croquefer, ou Le dernier des paladins
• Dragonette
• Vent du soir, ou L'horrible festin
• Une demoiselle en loterie
• Les deux pêcheurs, ou Le lever du soleil
• Mesdames de la Halle
• La chatte metamorphosée en femme
• Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld)
• Le mari à la porte
• Les vivandières de la grande-armée
• Geneviève de Brabant
• Le carnaval des revues
• Daphnis et Chloé (operetta)
• Barkouf (revised as Boule de neige)
• Le chanson de Fortunio
• Le pont des soupirs
• M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le . . .
• Apothicaire et perruquier
• Le roman comique
• Monsieur et Madame Denis
• Le voyage de MM. Dunanan père et fils
• Les bavards (also performed as "Bavard et Bavarde" and Die Schwätzerin von Saragossa)
• Jacqueline
• La baguette (Fédia)
• La leçon de chant électromagnétique
• Il signor Fagotto
• Lischen et Fritzchen
• Fleurette (also performed as Fleurette, oder Trompeter und Näherin)
• L'amour chanteur
• Les fées du Rhin (also performed as Die Rheinnixen)
• Les géorgiennes
• Le fifre enchanté, ou Le soldat magicien
• Jeanne qui pleure et Jean qui rit
• La belle Hélène (The Fair Helen)
• Coscoletto, ou Le lazzarone
• Les refrains des bouffes
• Les bergers
• Barbe-bleue (Bluebeard)
• La vie parisienne
• La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein)
• La permission de dix heures (also performed as Urlaub nach dem Zapfenstreich)
• Robinson Crusoé
• Le château à Toto
• L'ile de Tulipatan
• La Périchole
• Vert-Vert
• La diva
• La princesse de Trébizonde
• Les brigands
• La romance de la rose
• [Mam'zelle] Moucheron
• Le roi Carotte
• Fantasio
• Le corsaire noir (also performed as Der schwarze Corsar)
• Les braconniers
• Pomme d'api
• La jolie parfumeuse
• Bagatelle
• Madame l'archiduc
• Whittington (also performed as Le chat du diable)
• Le hannetons
• La boulangère a des écus
• Le voyage dans la lune
• La créole
• Tarte à la crême
• Pierrette et Jacquot
• La boîte au lait
• Le docteur Ox
• La foire Saint-Laurent
• Maître Péronilla
• Madame Favart
• La marocaine
• La fille du tambour-major
• Belle Lurette
• Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann)

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Faris, Alexander, Jacques Offenbach, NY: Scribner, 1981. ISBN 0-684-16797-2
• Harding, James, Jacques offenbach: a biography, London: J. Calder; NY: Riverrun Press, 1980. ISBN 0-714-53835-3
• Moss, Arthur; Marvel, Evalyn, Cancan and barcarolle: the life and times of Jacques Offenbach, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1975. ISBN 0-837-18045-7

External links

• Works by Jacques Offenbach. Project Gutenberg Retrieved July 11, 2007.
• Les folies Offenbach Retrieved July 11, 2007.
• Offenbach Edition Keck by Jean-Christophe Keck Retrieved July 11, 2007.
• Catalogue of works and discography in German Retrieved July 11, 2007.
• Information from Lessontutor.com Retrieved July 11, 2007.
• Information from the Musicals101 site Retrieved July 11, 2007.

Musical sample

• Can-Can (Orpheus in the Underworld). Performed on the accordion by R. Liraz Retrieved July 11, 2007.

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