Jacques Offenbach
and His Operettas

Offenbach was born in Deutz in 1819 and died in Paris in 1880. He was a German/French composer, conductor and cellist.

Some highlights of his life included his Paris Conservatory studies (1833-1837), participating as a cellist in the Opéra-Comique orchestra (after his conservatory studies), and conducting the Théâtre Français (1849-1855).

Offenbach was very prolific. In 1853, his operetta composing journey commenced and he wrote about ninety operettas in the span of approximately twenty-five years! His most famous work is The Tales of Hoffmann. Other works of note include La belle Hélène (1864), and Orpheus in the Underworld (1858, but revised in 1874).

An Amazing Offenbach Fact

The Tales of Hoffmann, in its revised version that was produced after Offenbach’s death, was chiefly orchestrated by Guiraud.

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