Founder of Theatres
Opera Studio de Buenos Aires
Founded by Jacobo Kaufmann, and under his direction, this company opened its doors, in 1971, to many young opera talents from Argentina. Romiglio Giacompol offered to the new ensemble, free of charge, the prestigious Teatro Coliseo, very close to the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires. Already with the production of two operas by Gian Carlo Menotti “The Medium” and “The Teléfono”, participated very successfully several young singers, who later developed distinguished international careers, and were eventually hired also by Teatro Colón. Maestro Gianni Rinaldi conducted an orchestra of talented and enthousiast students of the Conservatorio Nacional. This production was made possible thanks to the unconditional effort of all artists involved, and without any official subsidy. Critiques were unanimously favorable. Then, the following programs were announced, hereby bringing well deserved attention to a whole generation of Argentinian lyric artists.
The Jerusalem Centre for Music Theatre – The Jerusalem Opera
In 1976, when lyric theatre activities in Israel were limited to the National Opera in Tel Aviv, at the time with small budgets and arguable quality, Jacobo Kaufmann founded an ensemble of young opera artists in Jerusalem, establishing standards and concepts totally different to the existing ones. Already at the very beginning the company presented a group of singers who would soon stand out internationally. The Jerusalem Theatre generously opened its doors to the company and there was a modest subsidy from the Ministry of Education and Culture granted by Leah Porat. The musical director of the first production was Maestro Shalom Ronly-Riklis, conducting the Holon Chamber Orchestra. The Jerusalem Opera, which also performed in Tel Aviv and Haifa, successively produced the operas “Arlecchinata” by Salieri, “Hin und Zurück” by Hindemith, “La Serva Padrona” by Pergolesi, and “L’Amico Fritz” by Mascagni, all of them very well received by the press and the audiences.