Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach, (1819-80). French composer. Of German origin, he studied music in Paris and played in the orchestra, of the Opera-Comique. He later became a conductor at the Theatre Francaise. In 1855 he opened a theatre of his own for which he wrote 90 operettas over a period of 30 years. His best-known light opera is Orpheus in the Underworld (1858). His only successful serious opera was The Tales of Hoffmann (1881), which was completed by another composer after his death.
