Premiered at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, the piece was taken off after less than two months, and "Le timbale d’argent" returned to the Bouffes. Reflecting on his many previous successes, when the opera failed to run more than 50 performances, Offenbach wrote to Ludovic Halévy that ‘Offenbach’ was not to be found on the billboards for the 1878 Exhibition.