Hortense Schneider
(1833-1920)

One of the first major stars in the history of musical theatre, Hortense Schneider was born in Bordeaux around 1833 [sources differ]. She made her Paris debut in Le Violoneux (1855), a one-act operetta by Jacques Offenbach. Over the next ten years, she built her résumé while leading a scandalous private life as one of the Second Empire’s most notorious courtesans. For many years she was the mistress of Prince Napoléon, the Emperor’s cousin, but he was far from her only titled lover. Her reputation earned her the popular nickname le passage des Princes.

In 1864 she originated the title role of La belle Hélène, Offenbach’s comic look at the legend of Helen of Troy and the first in a quartet of Offenbach hits in which Schneider starred. This was followed first by Barbe-bleu in 1866 and then by La grande duchesse de Gerolstein in 1867. In 1868 she starred in La perichole, which had a Peruvian street-singer choosing between a penniless artist and the Spanish Viceroy. She repeated most of these roles during brief runs in London.

Schneider possessed a powerful voice, and her knack for delivering comic dialogue laced with sexual innuendo made her the toast of Paris. However, her temperamental and quarrelsome attitude, her tantrums and her walk-outs earned her a reputation as someone who was difficult to work with. When critics remarked that she was getting old, she promptly retired from the stage, but remained a prominent figure in Parisian society for the next five decades.

Hortense Schneider died in Paris on 5 May 1920.