Jean Gilbert was a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

 composer and 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...

. His real name was Max Winterfeld. He adopted the name of Jean Gilbert for the production of his first operetta in 1901.

Gilbert was born in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

. He studied at the conservatories of Sondershausen

Sondershausen

Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen....

 and Weimar

Liszt School of Music Weimar

The Liszt School of Music Weimar is a college of music in Weimar, Germany.-The Hochschule:...

, as well as under Philipp Scharwenka

Philipp Scharwenka

Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka was a German composer and teacher of music. He was the older brother of Xaver Scharwenka.- Early training :...

 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.

He composed more than 50 operettas before and after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, working mainly in Berlin. His most successful work was Die keusche Susanne

Die keusche Susanne

Die keusche Susanne is an operetta in three acts by Jean Gilbert. The German libretto was by Georg Okonkowski, based on the play Le fils à papa by Antony Mars and Maurice Desvallières. Jean Gilbert's son, Robert Gilbert prepared a revised version in 1953.-Performance history:It was first performed...

(1910), which was also popular in an English adaptation as The Girl in the Taxi

The Girl in the Taxi

The Girl in the Taxi is the English-language adaptation by Frederick Fenn and Arthur Wimperis of the operetta Die keusche Susanne , with music by Jean Gilbert. The German original had a libretto by Georg Okonkowski...

. He emigrated to Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 in 1933

Machtergreifung

Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...

, and died in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. His son Robert Gilbert

Robert Gilbert (musician)

Robert Gilbert was a German composer of light music, lyricist, singer, and actor. His father was Max Winterfeld, a composer and conductor who went by the pen name of Jean Gilbert...

 (1899–1978) was also a composer. His cousin was the composer Paul Dessau

Paul Dessau

Paul Dessau was a German composer and conductor.- Biography :Dessau was born in Hamburg into a musical family...

.

Selected works

• Das Jungfernstift, 1901, Hamburg
• Polnische Wirtschaft, 1909, Cottbus
• Die keusche Susanne
  Die keusche Susanne
  Die keusche Susanne is an operetta in three acts by Jean Gilbert. The German libretto was by Georg Okonkowski, based on the play Le fils à papa by Antony Mars and Maurice Desvallières. Jean Gilbert's son, Robert Gilbert prepared a revised version in 1953.-Performance history:It was first performed...
  
  , 1910, Magdeburg
• Das Autoliebchen, 1912, Berlin

Ja, das haben die Mädchen so gerne

• Puppchen, 1912, Berlin

Puppchen, du bist mein Augenstern

• Die Kino-Königin, 1913
• Die Frau im Hermelin, 1919, Berlin
• Katja, die Tänzerin, 1923, Vienna
• Das Weib in Purpur, 1923, Vienna
• Annemarie, 1925, Berlin
• Hotel Stadt Lemberg, 1929, Hamburg

External links

• Stage works