Jacques (zhak) Offenbach (OFF-en-bahkh) was born in Cologne, Germany to Jewish parents. His father, Isaac Judah Eberst, had come from the city of Offenbach. He was so often referred to as "Isaac der Offenbacher" that he decided to change his name to Offenbach. He taught singing and various instruments. When Jacques was six he started studying violin. He studied cello secretly because his parents thought he was too frail to play such a big instrument. One day the cello player in the family performance of a Haydn quartet failed to appear, and little Jacques startled his family by taking the seat and playing the cello part! They let him take cello lessons, and he became a part of the family trio which played in restaurants.

Jacques' father realized that his son was very talented and took him to Paris to study at the Conservatory. Jacques preferred playing light-hearted music in the Opéra-Comique orchestra. Then he decided that he'd like to compose his own operas. They were shorter and funnier than the serious operas that were in style. Unlike "grand opera," Offenbach's operas also include talking. More like Broadway musicals than traditional operas, they are called operettas.

Offenbach realized his dream of starting his own theater. He featured comic opera. He called it Bouffes Parisiens. (Bouffe is French for buffoon, or clown.) He often made fun of the serious operas. His theater became immensely popular. His music was sung in the streets. He made people laugh and they loved him.

Offenbach composed one serious opera, The Tales of Hoffmann. You will learn Barcarolle from that opera. A barcarolle is a song of the Venetian gondoliers. Two acts take place in Germany, and one in Venice, Italy. (The libretto is written in French.) The libretto is based on tales from the German writer, E.T.A. Hoffmann.

Tchaikovsky also based his Nutcracker Suite on a tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann. E.T.A. stands for Ernst Theodore Amadeus.  Do you know another Amadeus?