Pink foliage

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Rosa Laub is the title of the first German rock opera . It was premiered on July 6, 1979 at the Rostock Volkstheater .

Origin and performance

In the middle of 1976 Horst Krüger broke up his band in order to work exclusively as a composer . He composed and arranged the rock opera Rosa Laub , a commissioned work, between 1977 and 1979 based on a libretto by the book author and theater dramaturge Waldtraut Lewin . Waldtraut Lewin was a dramaturge at the “Volkstheater Rostock” from 1973 to 1977 and then worked freelance. Rosa Laub was her first major dramaturgical work. The rock opera was staged by the theater director Jörg Kaehler . Krüger, who had taken over the overall musical direction, engaged the rock band Badister for the performance in Rostock , which was founded in Rostock in 1969 and was a “special class amateur band”. In 1978 the readers of the youth magazine Neues Leben voted Badister the most popular amateur band in the GDR. Also Kruger, who for many years bandleader was, was surprised by the skills of the band. Although everyone involved was breaking new ground with this project, it was a complete success. Not only the premiere , but also all other performances were sold out. In 1983 the “Volkstheater Rostock” included the rock opera a second time in the program and in 1987 it was performed at the Metropol-Theater .

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Waldtraut Lewin's libretto is based on her story “How Karel flew to Rosa Laub on the blue motorcycle”. This story was published in 1974 with the same title by Helmut Fickelscherer (editor) in Verlag Neues Leben Berlin.

The young Karel is new in the Heiliger Berg district and is waiting for his first love. He encounters miracles everywhere. There is his blue motorcycle “Usambara”, with which he can fly, or the flower seller Rosa Laub, who appears in three forms in his dreams. His “play figures” and his mother help him find the right pink. With their help, Karel finds her way back to reality, meets the real Rosa Laub and grows up.

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When casting the main roles, Krüger feared difficulties because he assumed that actors would not be rock singers. But the fears were unfounded. The young actor Manfred Gorr , who took on the role of Karel, turned out to be a first-class singer. The Rosa Laub was played by Hanna Mönig . The singer Gerti Möller took over the part of the mother .

In the Berlin production, the two main roles were played by Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss and Simone Thomalla .

Songs

Based on her story, Waldtraut Lewin wrote 22 texts for the rock opera. The Amiga label released some of them in 1982 on the long-playing record Rosa Laub (No. 855861).

Track list

  • greeting
  • Adult song
  • Musical scene
  • Usambara
  • Fly song
  • Glory glory
  • Song of the truth
  • Master song
  • Song of the search
  • Mystery
  • Rose song
  • Comfort song
  • Hey everyone
  • Song about the girls

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  • Joe Schaffer: First rock opera of the GDR , In: Melodie und Rhythmus , Berlin (East), issue 9/1979
  • Joe Schaffer: Horst-Krüger - Thoughts on one of our leaders in rock music , In: Melodie und Rhythmus, Berlin (East), issue 12/1983

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