Napoleon III style
The Napoleon III style was a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which used elements of many different historical styles,and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as iron frameworks and glass skylights. It flourished during the reign of Emperor Napoleon III in France (1852–1871) and had an important influence on architecture and decoration in the rest of Europe and the United States. Major examples of the style include the Opéra Garnier in Paris by Charles Garnier (1862–71), the Bibliothèque nationale de France. and the Church of Saint Augustine (1860–1871). The architectural style was closely connected with Haussmann's renovation of Paris carried out during the Second Empire; the new buildings, such as the opera, were intended as the focal points of the new boulevards.
Napoleon III style
A new composer, Jacques Offenbach, soon emerged to challenge Hervé. Born in Germany, Offenbach was first a cello player with the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique, then the conductor of the orchestra for the Comédie-Française, composing music performed between the acts. In 1853, he wrote a short musical scene performed between acts, then a more ambitious short comedy, "Pepito", for the Théâtre des Variétés. He was unable to have his work performed in the major theaters, so he tried a different approach. In 1855, taking advantage of the first Paris International Exposition, which brought enormous crowds to the city, he rented a theater on the Champs-Élysées and put on his musicals to full houses. He then opened up a new theater, the Bouffes-Parisiens, which opened in 1855 with a work called "Ba-ta-clan, a Chinese-style Musical". Offenbach's theater attracted not only the working and middle class audiences, the traditional audience of the music halls, but also the upper classes. The comic opera scenes alternated with musical interludes by Rossini, Mozart, and Pergolese. In 1858 he took a step further with his first full-length operetta, with four acts and a chorus, "Orpheus in the Underworld". It was a popular and critical triumph, playing for two hundred twenty-eight nights. After the final night, Napoleon III granted Offenbach French citizenship, and his name changed formally from Jacob to Jacques.