For International Cello Day, here’s an 1867 “pantomime comic” by Gustave Doré, a whimsical series of caricatures of Jacques Offenbach to illustrate the influence and increased popularity of the instrument. In 1858, Offenbach engaged Doré to provide scenic designs for his operetta, “Orpheus in the Underworld.” Doré rendered a “serious” engraved portrait of the cellist and composer in 1860.
One of Offenbach’s cello duets here:
I just love the fact that the father of the modern zombie movie was inspired at the age 11 or 12 by Jacques Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann!”
George A. Romero, the animating force behind “Night of the Living Dead,” pays tribute to Powell-Pressburger’s bizarre masterpiece at the link. This is the same team that refined nightmare fuel with “The Red Shoes.”
Offenbach was a cello virtuoso who made his fortune as a hugely-successful composer of operetta. He wrote something like 100 of them, including “Orpheus in the Underworld,” which gave us this leggy earworm:
His only opera, “The Tales of Hoffmann,” is his magnum opus. Unfortunately, by the time it was accepted for performance at Paris’ Opéra-Comique, the composer was already in his grave. In fact, he died with the manuscript in his hand, only four months before the work’s premiere.
Debussy noted that the musical establishment of the day had difficulty coping with Offenbach’s sense of irony. Offenbach would no doubt have appreciated the fact that, like one of Romero’s zombies, he was, in a sense, reanimated after death. “The Tales of Hoffmann” has not been out of the repertoire since its premiere in 1881.
Happy birthday, Jacques Offenbach!
Here comes the “Can Can” man!
Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Jacques Offenbach.
Like Victor Herbert, who was born 40 years later, Jacques Offenbach was a master of operetta who gained experience as a cellist in theater orchestras. (Herbert even made it as far as the Metropolitan Opera.)
In Offenbach’s case, he finally attained a permanent position at Paris’ Opéra-Comique. Of course, his temperament was such that he was always getting busted down in pay for playing pranks. Once, he rigged everyone’s music stands to collapse in mid-performance.
Nevertheless, he managed to make a favorable impression on composer and conductor Fromental Halévy, who gave him private lessons in composition and orchestration. (Offenbach had left the Paris Conservatory out of boredom a year into his formal studies.)
With the help of Friedrich von Flotow, another future luminary of the musical stage, Offenbach gained access to the salon circuit. In this way, he bolstered his reputation as a performer and a composer. He toured France and Germany, performing with musicians such as Liszt and Anton Rubinstein. In England, he met Mendelssohn and Joseph Joachim.
Upon his return to Paris, he subtly altered his image from a cellist who happened to compose to a composer who played the cello. When the salons began to dry up, Offenbach gained employment as the musical director of the Comédie Française. There, he gained valuable experience actually writing for the stage, though his success did not transfer to the Opéra-Comique. Debussy noted that the musical establishment of the time had difficulty coping with the composer’s sense of irony.
By the time Offenbach finally did crack the Opéra-Comique with “The Tales of Hoffmann,” he was already in the grave. Though he died before putting the finishing touches on his opera, the orchestration was completed by other hands, and the work has not been out of the repertoire since.
Somewhere in heaven, undoubtedly, Offenbach is sawing half-way through the columns of the harps and enjoying the last laugh.
Happy birthday, Jacques Offenbach!
The scherzo from Offenbach’s Cello Quartet:
His greatest hit:
The lovely “Barcarolle:”
Like Victor Herbert – though born 40 years earlier, in 1819 – Jacques Offenbach was a master of operetta who gained experience as a cellist in theater orchestras. (Herbert even made it as far as the Metropolitan Opera.)
In Offenbach’s case, he finally attained a permanent position at Paris’ Opéra-Comique. Of course, his temperament was such that he was always getting busted down in pay for playing pranks during performances. Once, he rigged everyone’s music stands to collapse in mid-performance.
Nevertheless, he managed to make a favorable impression on composer and conductor Fromental Halévy, who gave him private lessons in composition and orchestration. (Offenbach had left the Paris Conservatory out of boredom a year into his formal studies.)
With the help of Friedrich von Flotow, another future luminary of the musical stage, Offenbach gained access to the salon circuit. In this way, he bolstered his reputation as a performer and a composer. He toured France and Germany, performing with musicians such as Liszt and Anton Rubinstein. In England, he met Mendelssohn and Joseph Joachim.
Upon his return to Paris, he subtly altered his image from a cellist who happened to compose to a composer who played the cello. When the salons began to dry up, Offenbach gained employment as the musical director of the Comédie Française. There, he gained valuable experience actually writing for the stage, though his success did not transfer to the Opéra-Comique. Debussy noted that the musical establishment of the time had difficulty coping with the composer’s sense of irony.
By the time Offenbach finally did crack the Opéra-Comique with “The Tales of Hoffmann,” he was already in the grave. Though he died before putting the finishing touches on his opera, the orchestration was completed by other hands, and the work has not been out of the repertoire since.
Undoubtedly, somewhere in heaven, Offenbach is sawing half-way through the columns of the harps, and enjoying the last laugh.
Happy birthday, Jacques Offenbach!
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