Credit: Nadar, restored by Adam Cuerden
Jacques Offenbach (1819 – 1880), a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas and his opera The Tales of Hoffmann. His Orpheus in the Underworld, first performed in 1858, is said to be the first full-length classical operetta. Offenbach 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 as well as The Tales of Hoffmann continue to be staged in the 21st.