Editing Jacques Offenbach (section)

===Early 1860s===
[[File:Jacques Offenbach et son fils.png|thumb|Offenbach with his only son, Auguste, 1865|alt=photograph of middle-aged father in frock coat, wearing Pince-nez eyeglasses and moustache, but no side-whiskers, with toddler sitting on his knee]]
The 1860s were Offenbach's most successful decade. At the beginning of 1860, he was granted French citizenship by the personal command of Napoleon III,<ref>Kracauer, p. 209</ref> and the following year he was appointed a chevalier of the {{Lang|fr|[[Légion d'honneur]]|italic=no}}; this appointment scandalised those members of the musical establishment who resented such an honour for a composer of popular light opera.<ref name="Faris, p. 84">Faris, p. 84</ref> Offenbach began the decade with his only substantial ballet score, {{lang|fr|[[Le papillon (ballet)|Le papillon]]}} ("The Butterfly"), produced at the [[Paris Opera|Opéra]] in 1860. It achieved what was then a successful run of 42 performances, without, as the biographer [[Andrew Lamb (writer)|Andrew Lamb]] says, "giving him any greater acceptance in more respectable circles".<ref name=grove/> Among other operettas in the same year, he finally had a piece presented by the {{lang|fr|Opéra-Comique|italic=no}}, the three-act {{lang|fr|[[Barkouf]]}}. It was not a success; its plot revolved around a dog, and Offenbach attempted canine imitations in his music. Neither the public nor the critics were impressed, and the piece survived for only seven performances.<ref>Gammond, p. 63</ref>

Apart from that setback, Offenbach flourished in the 1860s, the successes greatly outnumbering the failures. In 1861 he led the company in a summer season in Vienna. Encountering packed houses and enthusiastic reviews, Offenbach found Vienna much to his liking. He even reverted, for a single evening, to his old role as a cello virtuoso at a command performance before [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Emperor Franz Joseph]].<ref name=g70>Gammond, p. 70</ref> That success was followed by a failure in Berlin. Offenbach, though born a Prussian citizen, observed, "Prussia never does anything to make those of our nationality happy."{{refn|"La prusse ne ferait jamais le bonheur de nos nationaux".<ref name=g70/>|group= n}} He and the company hastened back to Paris.<ref name=g70/> Meanwhile, among his operettas that season were the full-length {{lang|fr|[[Le pont des soupirs]]}} and the one-act {{lang|fr|[[M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le . . .|M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le...]]}}.<ref>[[Kurt Gänzl|Gänzl, Kurt]]. [http://www.operetta-research-center.org/main.php?task=5&cat=4&sub_cat=10&id=00044 "Jacques Offenbach"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727082145/http://www.operetta-research-center.org/main.php?task=5&cat=4&sub_cat=10&id=00044 |date=27 July 2011 }}. Operetta Research Center, 27 February 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2011</ref>{{refn|Respectively, The Bridge of Sighs and M. Choufleuri will stay at home on...|group=n}}

In 1862, Offenbach's only son, Auguste (died 1883), was born, the last of five children. In the same year, Offenbach resigned as director of the Bouffes-Parisiens, handing the post over to Alphonse Varney. He continued to write most of his works for the company, with occasional pieces first given at the summer season at [[Bad Ems]].{{refn| The Bad Ems pieces were, {{lang|fr|[[Les bavards]]}} (1862), {{lang|fr|[[Il signor Fagotto]]}} (1863), {{lang|fr|[[Lischen et Fritzchen]]}} (1863), {{lang|fr|Le fifre enchanté, ou Le soldat}} (1864), {{lang|fr|Jeanne qui pleure et Jean qui rit}} (1864), {{lang|fr|Coscoletto, ou Le lazzarone}} (1865), and {{lang|fr|La permission de dix heures}} (1867). Most of them were played at the Bouffes-Parisiens in the winter season after their premieres.<ref name=grove/>|group= n}} Despite problems with the libretto, Offenbach completed a serious opera in 1864, {{lang|de|[[Die Rheinnixen]]}}, a hotchpotch of romantic and mythological themes.<ref>Gammond, pp. 77–78</ref> The opera was presented with substantial cuts at the [[Vienna State Opera|Vienna Court Opera]] and in Cologne in 1865. It was not given again until 2002, when it was finally performed in its entirety. Since then it has been given several productions.<ref>[http://www.jean-christophekeck.com/FeesduRhin%20livre%20OEK.pdf OEK Dokumentation 2002–2006, Jacques Offenbach, ''Les Fées du Rhin''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211110944/http://www.jean-christophekeck.com/FeesduRhin%20livre%20OEK.pdf |date=11 December 2009 }}, Boosey & Hawkes, Bote Bock (in German), 2006, p. 59</ref> It contained one number, the {{lang|de|"Elfenchor"|italic=no}}, described by the critic [[Eduard Hanslick]] as "lovely, luring and sensuous",<ref>Gammond, p. 78</ref> which [[Ernest Guiraud]] later adapted as the Barcarolle in ''The Tales of Hoffmann''.<ref>Faris, p. 24</ref> After December 1864, Offenbach wrote less frequently for the Bouffes-Parisiens, and many of his new works premiered at larger theatres.<ref name=grove/>