On the 15th of Aban this year, the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, with its usual grandeur and magnificence, will transport its audience into the boundless and dreamlike world of classical music. On this memorable night, the orchestra will perform one of the eternal masterpieces of music: Barcarolle from the opera The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach. With its gentle and soothing rhythm, this piece resembles a boat gliding over the calm waters of Venice, guiding the listener on a journey through melodies and deep emotions. Through this timeless composition, Offenbach beautifully captures the charm and magic of Venetian nights in music.

In this article, we will become more familiar with this outstanding composer and the passionate story of Barcarolle, and we will take a journey into the heart of Offenbach’s artistic and musical style.

Jacques Offenbach (born June 20, 1819, in Cologne, Germany – died October 5, 1880, in Paris, France) was a composer who created a light French comic opera style known as opérette, which became one of the most prominent artistic products of its time.

Offenbach was the son of Isaac Juda Eberst, a rabbi of the Cologne synagogue. His father, who was from Offenbach am Main, was known as “Offenbacher,” and Jacques adopted “Offenbach” as his stage name. In his youth, due to the more tolerant atmosphere of Paris toward Jews, he moved to Paris with his father and enrolled at the Paris Conservatory in 1833 as a cello student. In 1844, after converting to Catholicism, he married Herminie d’Alcain, the daughter of a Spanish Carlist.

Offenbach performed as a cellist in the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique and in 1849 became the conductor of the Théâtre Français. In 1855, he opened his own theater, the Bouffes-Parisiens, which he managed until 1866. It was there that many of his famous opérettes, including Orpheus in the Underworld (1858), were staged.

He also composed operettas in the German city of Ems and an opéra-ballet called Les Fées du Rhin (1864) in Vienna. In 1864, he returned successfully to Paris and produced La Belle Hélène at the Théâtre des Variétés. Offenbach went on to achieve further success with works such as La Vie parisienne (1866), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867), and La Périchole (1868). From 1872 to 1876, he managed the Théâtre de la Gaîté, where he produced a revised version of Orpheus in the Underworld—an endeavor that ultimately resulted in financial failure. In 1876, Offenbach traveled to the United States and spent his final years composing.

His only grand opera, The Tales of Hoffmann, remained unfinished at the time of his death. It was completed by Ernest Guiraud, who added the recitatives and orchestrated the work. He also included the famous Barcarolle, which was originally composed for Les Fées du Rhin. This piece, known as an opéra fantastique, premiered on February 10, 1881, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Gaîté Parisienne, a suite of Offenbach’s music arranged by Manuel Rosenthal, remains a beloved staple in orchestral and ballet performances.

Offenbach is renowned for his fluid and beautiful style, his strong sense of character development, and his humor—especially in his inventive takes on mythological themes. Gioachino Rossini referred to him as “our little Mozart of the Champs-Élysées.” With over one hundred stage works, Offenbach was a highly prolific composer, and many of his compositions remain in the repertoire into the 21st century.

The term Barcarolle (derived from the Italian barcarola, meaning “boatman” or “gondolier”) originally referred to songs sung by Venetian gondoliers. These songs typically had a calm rhythm in 6/8 or 12/8 meter. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the barcarolle inspired many vocal and instrumental works, ranging from operatic arias to piano pieces. The first recorded use of the term dates back to 1710, when French composer André Campra included a piece titled Fête des barquerolles in his stage work Les Fêtes vénitiennes.

After that, barcarolles appeared in the operas of composers such as Giovanni Paisiello, Carl Maria von Weber, Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Johann Strauss. Offenbach’s Barcarolle in The Tales of Hoffmann is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding operatic examples of the genre.

Frédéric Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60, is also one of the most celebrated instrumental barcarolles of the 19th century. Other composers such as Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, and Gabriel Fauré also composed works in this style. Barcarolles for various ensembles were written by composers such as Franz Schubert (for voice and piano), Johannes Brahms (for women’s choir), and Sir William Sterndale Bennett (for piano and orchestra).

Offenbach’s Barcarolle in The Tales of Hoffmann is considered one of the most famous classical barcarolles. Originally composed as a duet titled Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour (“Beautiful Night, O Night of Love”), it features a delicate 6/8 rhythm that evokes the gentle movement of a Venetian gondola.

Offenbach wrote this Barcarolle for his opera in 1881, reusing a melody from an earlier work. The piece is performed in the second act of the opera, set in a Venetian atmosphere, and adds a romantic and dreamlike quality to the love story between Hoffmann and the character Giulietta. Often sung as a duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano, the Barcarolle paints a picture of the night’s beauty and, with its calm rhythm, conveys the feeling of gently flowing water.

Musically, this Barcarolle features a soft, descending melody and repeating harmonic patterns that enhance its tranquil effect. It has become one of Offenbach’s most enduring and recognizable pieces and is frequently performed independently in concerts and has been recorded many times.

Now we await the interpretation of this timeless piece by the Tehran Symphony Orchestra—how it will breathe new life into the work and turn it into a unique experience for listeners. Offenbach’s Barcarolle, with its tender and emotionally evocative melodies, holds immense expressive potential and requires refined artistic understanding and sensitivity for performance. We now wait to see how the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, with the skill and artistry of its musicians, will bring this masterpiece to the stage and create unforgettable moments for its audience.