BERLIN — The composer Jacques Offenbach captured the streets of mid-19th-century Paris like no other. But while he produced about 130 scores for the stage, his profile is often reduced to a spirited cancan or a dreamy barcarole. The bicentenary of his birth this year has prompted a closer look, with rarely performed operas staged across Europe over the past two seasons. “Hoffmann,” which Offenbach left incomplete upon his death in 1880, represents a different side of the composer than his comic operas, which constitute the largest part of his oeuvre. When Offenbach returned to Paris, his home since age 14, the fashion had tilted toward more sentimental plotlines.

Source: New York Times May 09, 2019 14:03 UTC