Die beiden Kalifen (The Two Caliphs) is an 1813 opera in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer (or as he was then known, Jacob Meyerbeer), to a libretto by Johann Gottfried Wöhlbruch, based on a tale from the Arabian Nights.
The opera, Meyerbeer's second attempt at this genre, was originally titled Wirt und Gast, oder Aus Scherz Ernst (Landlord and Guest, or The Joke which Became Serious).[1] Under this name it was premiered at the Stuttgart Court Theatre [de] on 6 January 1813, conducted by Conradin Kreutzer.[2][3] Meyerbeer noted in his diary that "I arrived one day before the performance, and was able to supervise two rehearsals, but could do nothing to help really, since in every respect it had been badly and hurriedly prepared. The production was judged as poor by all critical accounts, and the opera was received very tepidly."[4] The local press however reported that the opera "earned a deserved success. The music has striking, genuinely original passages, and the text has been diligently prepared."[3]
The failure of the opera was a major factor in Meyerbeer determining to leave for Vienna in November 1814 and to seek his career outside German-speaking Europe.[8] In a review, the English journal The Harmonicon commented: "At this period no music but Italian had a chance of being listened to in the Austrian capital; it is not to be wondered at, therefore, that Meyerbeer's opera, written upon an opposite principle and very nearly in the same style with his Daughter of Jeptha, failed completely."[9]
The opera received further performances in Prague (22 October 1815), and, under the name Alimelek, oder die beiden Kalifen, in Dresden on 22 February 1820. Both these performances were conducted by Meyerbeer's friend Carl Maria von Weber, who wrote of its "active imagination. [and] well-nigh voluptuous melody", and praised its instrumentation.[9]
Conway, David (2012). Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9781107015388
Letellier, Robert (ed. and tr.) (1999). The diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer Volume 1 1791–1839. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN9780838637890
