Cosmopolitan Greetings
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Cosmopolitan Greetings |
| Shape: | Jazz opera |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | George Gruntz , Rolf Liebermann |
| Libretto : | Allen Ginsberg |
| Premiere: | 1988 |
| Place of premiere: | Hamburg State Opera |
Cosmopolitan Greetings is the title of a multimedia jazz opera about the life of the blues singer Bessie Smith , premiered in Hamburg in 1988 , with music by George Gruntz (jazz) and Rolf Liebermann ( twelve-tone music ) based on poems and a libretto by Allen Ginsberg . The first performance was produced in the Kampnagelfabrik at the end of Liebermann's second directorship at the Hamburg State Opera with a stage design by Robert Wilson , who at the time also caused a sensation with several stage designs for productions at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg , directed by Jürgen Flimm . For the New York Times , the entire opera was reminiscent of Escalator over the Hill .
The opera was also performed in New York. A concert performance with the WDR Big Band Cologne in 1992 forms the basis for the recording of a double CD.
Participants in the world premiere
- George Gruntz (composer, piano, lead big band)
- Rolf Liebermann (composer, conductor classical ensemble)
- Robert Wilson (set, direction)
- Dee Dee Bridgewater (vocals)
- Sheila Jordan (vocals)
- Mark Murphy (vocals)
- Carolyn Carlson (dance)
- Lutz Förster (dance)
- Sheryl Sutton (dance)
- Don Cherry (trumpet)
- Howard Johnson (tuba)
- Larry Schneider (flute, saxophone)
- Mike Richmond (bass)
- Adam Nussbaum (drums)
- NDR Bigband with Herb Geller (saxophone)