famous French composer of German descent; b. Cologne, June 20, 1819; d. Paris, Oct. 5, 1880. Offenbach was the son of a Jewish cantor, whose original surname was Eberst. Offenbach was the town in which his father lived.

Offenbach studied violin before taking up the cello when he was nine. After training with Joseph Alexander and Bernhard Breuer in Cologne, he settled in Paris in 1833. Following cello studies at the Paris Conservatory in 1833-34, he played in the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique. He pursued a career as a soloist and chamber music artist beginning in 1838. From 1850 to 1855 he was a conductor at the Théâtre-Français. His Chanson de Fortunio for Alfred de Musset's comedy Chandelier, composed in 1850, proved tremendously popular.

In 1855 Offenbach opened his own theater, the Bouffes-Parisiens, at the Salle Marigny. Late that year it moved to the Salle Choiseul, where he scored his first great success with the OPERETTA Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in hell; 1858). His La Belle Hélène (The beautiful Helen, 1864) proved to be one of his most celebrated works, soon taken up by theatrical enterprises all over the world.

Having abandoned the management of the Bouffes-Parisiens in 1866, Offenbach nevertheless continued to write for the stage. His La Vie parisienne (Parisian life; 1866), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein; 1867), and La Périchole (1868) were notably successful. In 1873 he took over the management of the Théâtre de la Gaité, where he brought out his revised version of Orphée aux enfers as an opéraféerique (fantastic opera; 1874).

In 1876 Offenbach undertook a tour of the U.S., describing his impressions in Notes d'un musicien en voyage (Notes of a traveling musician; 1877) and Offenbach en Amerique (Offenbach in America; 1877).

Offenbach's only grand opera, the masterpiece Les Contes d'Hoffmann (THE TALES OF HOFFMANN) remained unfinished at his death. Recitatives were added by Ernest Guiraud with the famous barcarolle from Offenbach's Die Rheinnixen from 1864, in which the tune was used for a ghost song. The completed score was premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1881 with instantaneous success, and subsequently was performed on both sides of the Atlantic.

Offenbach is a master of the operetta. His music is characterized by an abundance of flowing, rollicking melodies, seasoned with ironic humor, suitable to the extravagant burlesque of the situations. His irreverent treatment of mythological characters reflected the atmosphere of precarious gaiety in the Paris of his day.

In addition to his more than 60 operettas and opérascomiques, Offenbach wrote several pieces for the cello, including six works with orchestra, several pieces for cello and piano, solo works, and teaching pieces.