Of German-Jewish descent, Offenbach was educated at the Paris Conservatoire where he studied cello. In 1834, he was forced to leave his studies due to financial difficulties. Eventually, he gained employment as a cellist with the Opera Comique and became a well-known virtuoso. After a brief return to Germany to escape the 1848 turmoil in France, he returned to France and became the conductor of the Theatre Francais. In 1855, he established the Bouffes Parisiens theatre and began composing the operettas that would be his ultimate legacy. In 1858, he produced Orpheus in the Underworld to rave reviews. Over the course of his career, he produced around a hundred operettas, the best of which is The Tales of Hoffmann, a work that was completed by his good friend Ernest Guiraud in 1881. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Offenbach and his family fled to Spain. Returning to France in 1872, he was forced into bankruptcy by 1875. In 1876, he had a successful tour of America which helped to reestablish his financial situation in his remaining years.
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