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OTD in Music History: Composer and conductor Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1889) conducts the world premiere of his first full-length operetta, and the biggest hit of his career, “Orphee aux enfers” (“Orpheus in the Underworld”) – featuring the (in)famous “Can-Can” dance – at his little "Theatre des Bouffes-Parisiens" in Paris in 1858. Today, Offenbach is best remembered for his pioneering work as the creator of a type of light burlesque French comic opera popularly known as “operetta,” which became one of the most characteristic "pop" musical products of the latter half of the 19th Century. Offenbach combined a remarkably fluent and elegant musical style with a highly developed sense of both characterization and satire – indeed, no less an expert on matters of the theater than legendary "opera buffa" composer Giacchino Rossini (1792 - 1868) dubbed him “our little Mozart of the Champs-Elysees.” In many ways, both directly and indirectly, Offenbach can fairly be said to be the great-grandfather of the theatrical genre now commonly referred to as the “musical.” PICTURED: A c. 1900 real photo postcard showing the middle aged Offenbach at the height of his career, dressed to the nines and looking every bit the showman.

#music history #classical music #Opéra-Comique #Paris Conservatoire #Orphee Aux Enfers #Can Can #Tales Of Hoffmann #opéra bouffon #opéra féerie #Orpheus In The Underworld #Jacques Offenbach #musical theatre #Offenbach #operetta #opera #pianist #piano #composer #Les contes d'Hoffmann

OTD in Music History: The first class of 351 students enrolls at the newly founded Paris Conservatoire in 1796. In addition to being one of the oldest and most famous conservatories, the Conservatoire also helped to foster one of the most important performance traditions in history. In 1828, a violin professor and conductor named Francois Habeneck (1781 - 1849) founded the “Orchestra de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire,” which thereafter held concerts in the central hall of the Conservatoire almost continuously until 1945. It is difficult to overstate how important Habeneck and this orchestra were in the development of the art of conducting, and indeed in the codification of a modern public orchestral performing tradition. The orchestra consisted of professors of the Conservatoire and their pupils, and Habeneck formed it with one goal in mind: to regularly rehearse and flawlessly perform the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827). In its early years, this was likely the only ensemble in the world that was capable of executing those masterpieces at a level that would be deemed acceptable to modern ears. A young Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) was blown away when he heard Habeneck lead his orchestra – he later wrote that its concert series was "the only thing in Paris worthy of the attention of a musician," and recalled that a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 1840 “caused the scales to fall from his eyes." Wagner credited Habeneck with discovering the "true" interpretation of that key work, “because he took infinite pains to get his orchestra to understand and thus the orchestra made it sing.” As if helping to establish Beethoven as a fixture in the concert house and inspiring Wagner (one of the most important conductors of the 19th Century) was not enough, Habeneck also led the world premiere one of the great masterpieces of the age: Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” (1830). PICTURED: A series of original programs from the orchestra’s 1843 season.

#Paris Conservatoire #Orchestra de la Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire #Conservatoire #Ludwig van Beethoven #Richard Wagner #Ninth Symphony #Hector Berlioz #orchestra #program #Symphonie Fantastique #opera #bel canto #classical music #music history

OTD in Music History: Jakob “Jacques” Offenbach (1819 – 1880) dies in Paris. Offenbach is best remembered for two artistic achievements: First, for his pioneering work as the creator of a type of light burlesque French comic opera popularly known as “operetta,” which became one of the most characteristic "pop" musical products of the latter half of the 19th Century. Second, perhaps ironically, for his own masterpiece -- and one of only two operas he ever wrote that *wasn’t* an operetta -- “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” (“The Tales of Hoffmann”), a “grand opera” which remained unfinished at his death. (It was subsequently orchestrated and provided with recitatives and produced at the Opera-Comique in early 1881, where it proved to be a smash hit. It remains a part of the international operatic repertoire to this day.) Offenbach combined a remarkably fluent and elegant musical style with a highly developed sense of both characterization and satire – indeed, no less an expert on matters of the theater than legendary "opera buffa" composer Giacchino Rossini (1792 - 1868) dubbed him “our little Mozart of the Champs-Elysees.” Offenbach produced his first full-length operetta, “Orphee aux enfers” (“Orpheus in the Underworld”) -- which features the (in)famous “Can-Can” dance -- in 1858, and it was perhaps the biggest hit of his career; it is certainly the most frequently performed of his many operettas today. In many ways, both directly and indirectly, Offenbach can fairly be said to be the great-grandfather of the theatrical genre now commonly referred to as the “musical.” PICTURED: One of the many sheets of musical sketches written out by Offenbach over the years in connection with various projects (both realized and unrealized), which were then dispersed as "souvenirs" after his death. The completed work to which this particular sketch sheet is connected -- if any -- has not yet been identified.