Hortense Schneider

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Hortense Catherine Schneider (April 30, 1833–May 5, 1920) was a French soprano. She was born in Bordeaux. She created the title roles in Jacques Offenbach's opéra bouffes La belle Hélène (1864), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867), and La Périchole (1868), as well as the lead female role of Boulotte in Barbe-bleue (1866). In all of these she was partnered by Belgian tenor José Dupuis. She was seen as the toast of the Second Empire and was a favorite of royal visitors to Paris. (Because of the favors which she liberally granted to the members of the nobility, she was known as the Passage des Princes.) She retired in 1880, after the death of Offenbach.