Editing Jacques Offenbach (section)

===Later 1860s===
[[File:Offenbach's other leading ladies.jpg|thumb|left|Offenbach's leading ladies (clockwise from top left): Marie Garnier in ''[[Orphée aux enfers]]'', [[Zulma Bouffar]] in ''[[Les brigands]]'', Léa Silly (role unidentified), Rose Deschamps in ''Orphée aux enfers''|alt=head shots of four white prima donnas in operatic costumes]]
Between 1864 and 1868 Offenbach wrote four of the operettas for which he is chiefly remembered: {{lang|fr|La belle Hélène}} (1864), {{Lang|fr|[[La Vie parisienne (operetta)|La Vie parisienne]]}} (1866), {{lang|fr|[[La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein]]}} (1867) and {{lang|fr|[[La Périchole]]}} (1868). Halévy was joined as librettist for all of them by [[Henri Meilhac]]. Offenbach, who called them "Meil" and "Hal",<ref>Faris, p. 51</ref> said of this trinity: {{lang|fr|"Je suis sans doute le Père, mais chacun des deux est mon Fils et plein d'Esprit,"|italic=no}}<ref>Dufreigne, p. 302</ref> a play on words loosely translated as "I am certainly the Father, but each of them is my Son and Wholly Spirited".{{refn|Literally, "No doubt I am the Father; each of the two is my Son and Full of Verve" – "''esprit''" meaning both "[Holy] Spirit" and "wit", and "''Plein d'Esprit''" rhyming with "''[[Holy Ghost|Saint Esprit]]"''.|group= n}}

For {{lang|fr|La belle Hélène}} Offenbach secured Hortense Schneider to play the title role. Since her early success in his short operas, she had become a leading star of the French musical stage. She now commanded large fees and was notoriously temperamental, but Offenbach was adamant that no other singer could match her as Hélène.<ref name=g80/> Rehearsals for the premiere at the {{lang|fr|[[Théâtre des Variétés]]|italic=no}} were tempestuous, with Schneider and the principal [[mezzo-soprano]] Léa Silly feuding, the censor fretting about the satire of the imperial court, and the manager of the theatre attempting to rein in Offenbach's extravagance with production expenses.<ref name=g80>Gammond, p. 80</ref> Once again the success of the piece was inadvertently assured by the critic Janin; his scandalised notice was strongly countered by liberal critics and the ensuing publicity again brought the public flocking.<ref>Gammond, p. 81</ref>

{{lang|fr|[[Barbe-bleue (opera)|Barbe-bleue]]}} was a success in early 1866 and was quickly reproduced elsewhere. {{lang|fr|La Vie parisienne}} later in the same year was a new departure for Offenbach and his librettists; for the first time in a large-scale piece they chose a modern setting, instead of disguising their satire under a classical cloak. It needed no inadvertent boost from Janin but was an instant and prolonged success with Parisian audiences, although its very Parisian themes made it less popular abroad. Gammond describes the libretto as "almost worthy of [[W. S. Gilbert|[W. S.] Gilbert]]", and Offenbach's score as "certainly his best so far".<ref>Gammond, p. 87</ref> The piece starred [[Zulma Bouffar]], who began an affair with the composer that lasted until at least 1875.<ref>Harding, p. 141</ref>

In 1867 Offenbach had one of his greatest successes. The premiere of {{lang|fr|La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein}}, a satire on militarism,<ref>Gammond, p. 89</ref> took place two days after the opening of the [[Exposition Universelle (1867)|Paris Exhibition]], an even greater international draw than the 1855 exhibition which had helped him launch his composing career.<ref>Harding, pp. 165–168</ref> The Parisian public and foreign visitors flocked to the new operetta. Sovereigns who saw the piece included [[William I, German Emperor|King William of Prussia]] accompanied by his chief minister, [[Otto von Bismarck]]. Halévy, with his experience as a senior civil servant, saw the looming threat from Prussia; he wrote in his diary, "Bismarck is helping to double our takings. This time it's war we're laughing at, and war is at our gates."<ref>Harding, p. 172</ref> ''La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein'' was followed by a quick succession of modest successes. In 1867 he produced ''[[Robinson Crusoé]]'' and a revised version of ''Geneviève de Brabant''; in 1868, {{lang|fr|[[Le château à Toto]]}}, {{lang|fr|[[L'île de Tulipatan]]}} and a revised version of {{lang|fr|Le pont des soupirs}}.<ref>{{cite Grove|last=Lamb|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Lamb (writer)|id=O007720|title=Pont des soupirs, Le ('The Bridge of Sighs')|year=2002|orig-year=1992}} {{subscription required}} (''Le Pont de soupirs''); and Gammond, pp. 93–94 (''Robinson Crusoé'', ''Geneviève de Brabant'', ''Le château à Toto'' and ''L'île de Tulipatan'')</ref>

In October 1868 ''La Périchole'' marked a transition in Offenbach's style, with less exuberant satire and more human romantic interest.<ref name=g97>Gammond, p. 97</ref> Lamb calls it Offenbach's "most charming" score.<ref name=LambPerichole>{{cite Grove|last=Lamb|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Lamb (writer)|id=O903861|title=Périchole, La|orig-year=1992|year=2002}} {{subscription required}}</ref> There was some critical grumbling at the change, but the piece, with Schneider in the lead, made a good profit.<ref>Yon, p. 374</ref> It was quickly produced elsewhere in Europe and both North and South America.<ref>"''La Périchole''", ''{{ill|L'Avant-scène opéra|fr}}'', No. 66, August 1984</ref><ref>Gänzl and Lamb, p. 306</ref> Of the pieces that followed it at the end of the decade, ''Les brigands'' (1869) was another work that leaned more to romantic comic opera than to the more ebullient [[opéra bouffe]]. It was well received, but has been less often revived than Offenbach's best-known operettas.<ref name=g97/>