[2] Offenbach was director of music at the Comédie Française in the early 1850s, but desperate to gain recognition as a stage composer.He spent the summer of 1853 in Cologne with some of his family there to build his strength for battles ahead to win commissions and performances.Originally intended to be entitled Vertigo, Pépito received its premiere at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris on 28 October 1853.[2] The work was dedicated to Mme Émile Perrin (wife of the then director of the Paris Opéra-comique), and was published by Challiot with some cuts in December that year.[2] Pépito was revived in March 1856 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens and was part of the company’s repertoire for the rest of the decade.