Wolfgang Rihm: Jakob Lenz

Wolfgang Rihm’s opera Jakob Lenz, which received its world premiere at the Hamburg State Opera’s Opera stabile on 8 March 1979, can be understood as a palimpsest. Resembling a parchment on which writings of different ages
overlap but always remain translucent, this opera is also the result of multiple layering: we see the historical figure of the Sturm und Drang poet Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz from the second half of the 18th century through the eyes of Georg Büchner, who wrote his Lenz novella around 1835. The story is mirrored once again in Michael Fröhling’s libretto version, on which Rihm’s opera is based. This recording is of the opening night performance of the opera’s staging at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in December 2021, conducted by Franck Ollu.