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Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach (, also US: , French: [ʒak ɔfɛnbak], German: [ˈʔɔfn̩bax] (listen); 20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. The Tales of Hoffmann remains part of the standard opera repertory.

Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical theatre. Finding the management of Paris' Opéra-Comique company uninterested in staging his works, in 1855 he leased a small theatre in the Champs-Élysées. There he presented a series of his own small-scale pieces, many of which became popular.

In 1858, Offenbach produced his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers ("Orpheus in the Underworld"), which was exceptionally well received and has remained one of his most played works. During the 1860s, he produced at least 18 full-length operettas, as well as more one-act pieces. His works from this period included La belle Hélène (1864), La Vie parisienne (1866), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867) and La Périchole (1868). The risqué humour (often about sexual intrigue) and mostly gentle satiric barbs in these pieces, together with Offenbach's facility for melody, made them internationally known, and translated versions were successful in Vienna, London and elsewhere in Europe.

Offenbach became associated with the Second French Empire of Napoleon III; the emperor and his court were genially satirised in many of Offenbach's operettas. Napoleon III personally granted him French citizenship and the Légion d'Honneur. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Offenbach found himself out of favour in Paris because of his imperial connections and his German birth. He remained successful in Vienna and London, however. He re-established himself in Paris during the 1870s, with revivals of some of his earlier favourites and a series of new works, and undertook a popular US tour. In his last years he strove to finish The Tales of Hoffmann, but died before the premiere of the opera, which has entered the standard repertory in versions completed or edited by other musicians.

Birth and Death Data: Born June 20, 1819 (Cologne), Died October 5, 1880 (Paris)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1900 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, lyricist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 76-100 of 193 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia 78846 10-in. 12/8/1919 Barcarolle Carmela Ponselle ; Rosa Ponselle Vocal duet (soprano and contralto), with harp and orchestra composer  
Columbia 79148 10-in. 4/29/1920 Doll song Lucy Gates Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 79466 10-in. 10/21/1920 Barcarolle Clyde Doerr ; Bert Ralton Saxophone duet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 80649 10-in. 11/4/1922 Barcarolle Garber-Davis Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Columbia 30250 12-in. 4/18/1909 Barcarole aus Hoffmann's erzählungen Prince's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 30638 12-in. 1/16/1911 Barcarolle Margaret Keyes ; Idelle Patterson Vocal duet (soprano and contralto), with orchestra composer  
Columbia 30698 12-in. ca. Jan.-Apr. 1911 Barcarolle Margaret Keyes ; Idelle Patterson Soprano vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 30808 12-in. 8/11/1911 Tales of Hoffmann : Selections Prince's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 30947 12-in. ca. 1912 Barcarolle Bernice De Pasquali ; Rosa Olitzka Vocal duet (soprano and contralto) composer  
Columbia 36354 12-in. ca. 1912 Barcarolle David Scull Bispham ; Alice Nielsen Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra composer  
Columbia 36496 12-in. 11/22/1912 Dapertutto's air Hector Dufranne Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 36854 12-in. 1/15/1914 Orpheus in Hades : Overture Prince's Orchestra Orchesta composer  
Columbia 36855 12-in. 1/15/1914 Orpheus in Hades : Overture Prince's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 48505 12-in. 12/10/1915 Barcarolle Prince's Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 49066 12-in. 1/13/1917 Barcarolle Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ; Ernst Kunwald Orchestra composer  
Columbia 49423 12-in. approximately May 15, 1918 Barcarolle Dorothy Brunton ; Paul Dufault Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Columbia 49707 12-in. 11/29/1919 Orpheus in Hades : Overture Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ; Eugène Ysaÿe Orchestra composer  
Columbia 49708 12-in. 11/29/1919 Orpheus in Hades : Overture Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ; Eugène Ysaÿe Orchestra composer  
Columbia 49716 12-in. 11/30/1919 Barcarolle Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ; Eugène Ysaÿe Orchestra composer  
Columbia 49817 12-in. 4/30/1920 Tales of Hoffmann : Selections Columbia Symphony Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 98135 12-in. 3/18/1924 Les oiseaux dans la charmille Florence Macbeth Soprano vocal solo, with harp and orchestra composer  
Columbia W144674 10-in. 9/14/1927 Barcarolle Robert Hood Bowers ; Columbia Symphony Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia W98174 12-in. 5/12/1925 Vocal gems from The love song Columbia Light Opera Company Mixed vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 6067 12-in. approximately 1910 Tales of Hoffman : Barcarolle Jean Schwiller Cello solo, with piano composer  
Columbia 12513 10-in. between 1905 and 1908 Trinklied Karl Meister Tenor vocal solo composer  
(Results 76-100 of 193 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Offenbach, Jacques," accessed November 2, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102760.

Offenbach, Jacques. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102760.

"Offenbach, Jacques." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 2 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102760

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