Wolfgang Rihm's opera "Jakob Lenz", world premiered on 8 March 1979 at the Hamburg State Opera's Opera stabile, can be understood as a palimpsest. Like 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 Buchner, who wrote his "Lenz" novella around 1835. The story is mirrored once again in Michael Frohling's libretto version, on which Rihm's opera is based. This is a live recording of the opening night at the Nationaltheater Mannheim in 2021 under the direction of Franck Ollu.