Georges Jacobi

Georges Jacobi (* 1840 in Berlin , † 1906 in London ) was a German composer and conductor .

Jacobi's musical training began when he was six years old. He later studied composition with Daniel-François-Esprit Auber at the Conservatoire de Paris and won first prize in the violin class in 1861 . He joined the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique , where he was principal violinist until 1869 .

In addition, he gave concerts with his own orchestra in the painting gallery of the Société nationale des beaux-arts . In 1869 he became musical director of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens , where he mainly conducted Offenbach's operettas .

When the Franco-Prussian War broke out , Jacobi went to London. There he was musical director of the Alhambra Theater from 1872 to 1898 . Over the course of time he composed more than 100 works for the ballet of the Varieté theater.

After a fire in the Alhambra in 1882, the house was reopened in 1883 with a new concept. A music hall program was now offered between two ballet performances. The ballet's choreographer was Carlo Coppi , who also opened a ballet school. Emma Palladino was the prima ballerina of the house for a long time . In 1897 Arthur Sullivan composed the operetta Victoria and Merrie England , the performance of which was a high point in the history of the house.

In addition to ballets, Jacobi composed several operettas and plays, as well as violin works, including two violin concertos. In 1896 he became professor of conducting at the Royal College of Music , his successor at the Alhambra was George W. Byng . He was twice President of the Association of Conductors in England . The operetta composer Walter Slaughter is one of his students .

Works

• Yolande , ballet
• The Golden Wreath , ballet
• The Swans , ballet
• Melusine , ballet
• Blue Beard , ballet
• Ali Baba , ballet
• Lochinvar , ballet
• La Tzigane , ballet
• Rothomago , Operetta (joint composition with Edward Solomon , Procida Bucalossi and Gaston Serpette )
• The Black Crook comic opera (in collaboration with Frederic Clay )
• Incidental music for Henry Irving's Robespierre

literature

• Wilhelm Pfannkuch:  Jacobi, Georg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1974, ISBN 3-428-00191-5 , p. 237 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Jeffrey Richards: Imperialism and music: Britain, 1876–1953 , Manchester University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-7190-6143-1 , pp. 253 ff. ( Excerpt from Google Books )