The opera was first performed at the Staatsoper, Berlin, on 5 May 1930 in a German translation by Rudolph Stephan Hoffmann.

The opera tells the life of Christopher Columbus in a series of episodes which avoid chronological order and are sometimes allegorical.

), Jean Giraudeau (Majordome, Cuisinier, Valet, Sultan), Lucien Lovano (Roi d'Espagne, Commandant, Aubergiste etc.

), Orchestre Radio Lyrique, Chœurs de la RTF, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal.

Disques Montaigne CE 8750 (from the INA), released 1987; recorded at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 31 May 1956.