Jacobowsky und der Oberst, Op. 49, (Jacobovsky and the Colonel) is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in four acts by Giselher Klebe

Giselher Klebe

Giselher Wolfgang Klebe was a German composer. He composed more than 140 works, among them 14 operas, 8 symphonies, 15 solo concerts, chamber music, piano works, and sacred music.-Biography:...

 who also wrote the libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 based on the 1944 play of the same name by Franz Werfel

Franz Werfel

Franz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...

.

It premiered on 2 November 1965 at the Hamburg State Opera

Hamburg State Opera

The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...

 which had commissioned

Commission (art)

In art, a commission is the hiring and payment for the creation of a piece, often on behalf of another.In classical music, ensembles often commission pieces from composers, where the ensemble secures the composer's payment from private or public organizations or donors.- Commissions for public art...

 the work. Klebe dedicated it to the then director of the Staatsoper, Rolf Liebermann

Rolf Liebermann

Rolf Liebermann , was a Swiss composer and music administrator born in Zurich, and associated with several different musical genres. His output included chansons, classical, and light music. His classical music often combines myriad styles and techniques, including those drawn from baroque,...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...	Premiere cast, 2 November 1965 Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Leopold Ludwig
Jacobowsky	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Oskar Czerwenka
Colonel Stjerbinsky	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Gerhard Stolze Gerhard Stolze Gerhard Stolze was a German tenor.A character tenor best known as a Wagner singer. His most famous roles were Mime , David , Loge , Aegisth and Herod...
Marianne	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Arlene Saunders Arlene Saunders Arlene Saunders is an American spinto soprano opera singer. After making her operatic debut as Rosalinde von Eisenstein, in Die Fledermaus, with the National Opera Company in 1958, she made her first appearance with the New York City Opera in 1961, as Giorgetta in Il tabarro...
Szabuniewicz	baritone	Erwin Wohlfahrt
The tragic gentleman	baritone	Toni Blankenheim Toni Blankenheim Toni Blankenheim is a German operatic baritone. He notably sang the role of Schigolch in the 1981 recording of Alban Berg's Lulu which won a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. He is also on record singing the role of Alberich at Bayreuth. His memorable Beckmesser with the Hamburg State Opera...
Madame Bouffier	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Tatiana Troyanos Tatiana Troyanos Tatiana Troyanos was an American mezzo-soprano of Greek and German descent.-Early life:...
Salomon	bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...	Ernst Umlandt
The old lady from Arras Arras Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...	contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...	Maria von Ilsovay
The flirting woman	soprano	Elfriede Zimmer
Chauffeur	bass	Carl Schultz
Clairon, café-owner in Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.Saint-Jean-de-Luz is part of the province Basque of Labourd and the Basque Eurocity Bayonne - San Sebastian .-Geography:...	bass	Peter Rath-Ehrang
Brigadier at Saint Cyrill	bass	Hans-Otto Kloose
First Lieutenant in the German army	tenor	Wilfried Plate
The dice player	bass	Hans Satin
The Wandering Jew Wandering Jew The Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian folklore whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. The original legend concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming...	tenor	Kurt Marschner
St. Francis Francis of Assisi Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...	baritone	Herbert Fliether
Chef D'ilot	spoken	Georg Mund
Police chief of Saint-Jean-de-Luz	spoken	Theo Herrmann
A Gestapo Gestapo The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...  official	spoken	Peter Markwort
A Warrant Officer Feldwebel Feldwebel is a German military rank which has existed since at least the 18th century with usage as a title dating to the Middle Ages. The word Feldwebel is usually translated as sergeant being rated OR-6 in the NATO rank comparison scale, equivalent to the British Army Sergeant and the US Army...	spoken	Heinz Vossbrink
Hotel and café guests	2 sopranos, contralto, tenor
Orchestra	Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg Philharmoniker Hamburg The Philharmoniker Hamburg is a German symphony orchestra based in Hamburg. Its current Music Director is GMD Simone Young. It is also the orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera....
Director	Günther Rennert Günther Rennert Günther Rennert was a German opera director and administrator.Rennert was born in Essen, Rhine Province. Starting as a film director in 1933, he then became involved in the operatic theatre, becoming an assistant to Walter Felsenstein at the Oper Frankfurt...
Scene design	Ita Maximowna

Time and place: 1940, Paris, St. Cyrill, Bayonne

Bayonne

Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...

 and Saint-Jean-de-Luz

The first American performance was on 27 June 1967 at he Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

, New York, using the same cast, conducted by Matthias Kuntzsch

Matthias Kuntzsch

Matthias Kuntzsch is a German-born conductor living in the United States . Earlier in his career in Germany, he was Principal Conductor of the Bonn Theater, Nationaltheater Mannheim, State Opera Hamburg, and Nationaltheater Munich, and Music Director of the Opera and Symphony of Lübeck and the...

.

External links

• Details, including a plot synopsis at Boosey & Hawkes
  Boosey & Hawkes
  Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....