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Jacques Offenbach Biography |
Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819 -October 4, 1880), composer and cellist, the creator of "La vie Parisienne" and an originator of the operetta form, a precursor of the modern musical comedy.
Biography
Offenbach was of German birth and was Jewish, born Jakob Eberst, the son of a synagogue cantor. He moved to Paris in 1833 to study the cello. He found employment playing cello in the orchestra of the Opera Comique, and wrote several pieces for the instrument. In 1844, he married Herminie de Alcain. In 1850 he became conductor of the Theatre Francais, but in 1855 rented his own theatre, the Bouffes Parisiens on the Champs Elysees, and began a successful career devoted largely to operetta and opéras comiques until his death. His most popular works are still performed regularly today. He also wrote much dance music, especially the can-can style. His best known operettas in the English-speaking world are Orpheus in the Underworld, La Vie Parisienne,La Belle Helene, La Perichole and The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein.
Offenbach's final opera, The Tales of Hoffman, was more serious than his other works, reflecting perhaps the eternal wish of the clown to be taken seriously. It was still unfinished at his death, and was completely by his best friend Ernest Guiraud, and premiered in 1881.
He is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris, France.
Works
Offenbach wrote more than ninety pieces for the stage. Some of his works include:
Les deux Aveugles
Le Nuit blanche
Ba-ta-clan
La Rose de Saint-Flour
Le Savetier et le Financier
Dragonette
Le Vent du Soir ou L'horrible Festin
Une Demoiselle en loterie
Le Mariage aux lanternes
Les deux Pêcheurs
Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld)
Les Vivandières de la Grande Armée
Geneviève de Brabant
Daphnis et Chloé
Le Chanson de Fortunio
Le Pont des soupirs
Le Roman comique
Les Bavards
Lischen et Fritzchen
Le Brésilien
Jeanne qui pleure et Jean qui rit
L'amour chanteur
Die Rheinnixen ,
La belle Hélène (Fair Helen)
Les Bergers
Barbe-Bleue (Bluebeard)
La Vie Parisienne
La permission de dix heures
La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein (The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein)
Robinson Crusoe
L'Ile de Tulipatan
La Périchole
La Diva
La Princesse de Trébizonde
Les Brigands
Boule de Neige
Le Roi Carotte
Fantasio
Fleurette
Les Braçonniers
Pomme d'Api
Bagatelle
Le Violoneux
La Boulangère a des écus
Madame l'Archiduc
La Créole
Le Voyage dans la lune
Tarte à la Crème
Pierrette et Jacquot
La boîte au lait
La Foire Saint-Laurent
Madame Favart
La Marocaine
La fille du Tambour-Major
Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann). |
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