Jacobowsky und der Oberst, Op. 49, (Jacobovsky and the Colonel) is an opera in four acts by Giselher Klebe who also wrote the libretto based on the 1944 play by Franz Werfel.
It premiered on 2 November 1965 at the Hamburg State Opera which had commissioned the work. Klebe dedicated it to the then director of the Staatsoper, Rolf Liebermann.
Roles
RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 2 November 1965Conductor: Leopold LudwigJacobowskybaritoneOskar CzerwenkaColonel StjerbinskytenorGerhard StolzeMariannesopranoArlene SaundersSzabuniewiczbaritoneErwin WohlfahrtThe tragic gentlemanbaritoneToni BlankenheimMadame Bouffiermezzo-sopranoTatiana TroyanosSalomonbassErnst UmlandtThe old lady from ArrascontraltoMaria von IlosvayThe flirting womansopranoElfriede ZimmerChauffeurbassCarl SchultzClairon, café-ownerin Saint-Jean-de-LuzbassPeter Roth-EhrangBrigadier at Saint CyrillbassHans-Otto KlooseFirst Lieutenant inthe German armytenorWilfried PlateThe dice playerbassHans SotinThe Wandering JewtenorKurt MarschnerSt. FrancisbaritoneHerbert FlietherChef D'ilotspokenGeorg MundPolice chief ofSaint-Jean-de-LuzspokenTheo HerrmannA Gestapo officialspokenPeter MarkwortA Warrant OfficerspokenHeinz VossbrinkHotel and café guests2 sopranos,contralto, tenorOrchestraPhilharmonisches Staatsorchester HamburgDirectorGünther RennertScene designIta Maximowna
Time and place: 1940, Paris, St. Cyrill, Bayonne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz
The first American performance was on 27 June 1967 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, using the same cast, conducted by Matthias Kuntzsch.
References
Further reading "Die Komödie einer Tragödie", Hamburger Abendblatt, 3 November 1965, retrieved 20 May 2009 "Er pfeift auf Mode, Schule und Doktrin", Die Zeit, 5 November 1965, retrieved 20 May 2009 Michael Herbert Rentzsch and Erik Levi: "Klebe, Giselher", Grove Music Online Alan Blyth: "Czerwenka, Oskar", Grove Music Online Harold Rosenthal and Alan Blyth: "Stolze, Gerhard", Grove Music Online Elizabeth Forbes: "Saunders, Arlene" Grove Music Online
External links Details, including a plot synopsis at Boosey & Hawkes