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| Composers Biography |  |
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Jacques Offenbach
[ Life | Works
| Operettas
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![[ Jacques Offenbach Image]](../Dizionario/images/offenbach.gif) |
| A Franco-German composer who won fame as a manager, director and composer of French operettas between 1855 and 1880. The son of a synagogue cantor in Cologne, Offenbach began to study the violincello at the Paris Conservatoire and was soon playing in the orchestra at the Opéra-Comique. After a successful early career as a virtuoso cellist, he spent most of his time working in theatres such as the Théatre Français and Bouffes Parisiens. In 1855 he opened his own theatre, where his light-hearted stage-works were performed. He continued a successful career, devoted largely to operetta and opéras comiques, until his death in 1880. 
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Out of 90 or so operettas, few of which have survived, the best known is "Orphée aux enfers" (Orpheus in the Underworld), in particular for its famous can-can. MIDI FILE - From "Orpheus in the Underworld": Can-Can (2'16'') Other operettas include La Belle Hélène (Fair Helen) and La Vie Parisienne. MIDI FILE - From "La Princesse de Trébizonde": Ouverture (7'06'') Offenbach's final opera, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), completed after the composer's death by Bizet's friend Ernest Guiraud, is based on stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, including the tale of Dr. Coppelius and his life-like creation, the doll Coppélia. MIDI FILE - From “Les
contes d'Hoffmann”: Barcarole (3’24’’) The most popular melody in it is the "Barcarolle".
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