Biography
Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880), was a German composer and cellist of the Romantic era, one of the greatest composers of the 19th century, one of the creators of the operetta genre.
Born in Cologne, Germany on June 20, 1819, his father was a soloist, composer and music teacher. at nine he was playing the cello. Offenbach moved to Paris in 1833 to study the cello. He found work in the Opera Comique orchestra and wrote many cello compositions. In 1844 he converted, became a Catholic, married and returned to Germany with his wife and daughter. However after two years he took his family and they returned permanently to France.
In 1850 he became conductor of the French Theater, in 1855 he rented his own theater and began to stage his own works, mainly operettas and comic operas. His most famous operettas in the English-speaking world are Orpheus in Hades, Parisian Life, The Beautiful Helen, Perisol, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, many of his works remain today in the repertoire of famous artists.
Offenbach died on October 5, 1880.