George Gruntz / Peter O. Chotjewitz: The Magic of a Flute. ‘Jazzopera’. NDR Big Band. Dir. George Gruntz.
In 1972, the German writer Peter O. Chotjewitz was commissioned by the opera house director Rolf Liebermann to write the scenario for an opera. It was to be based on the story of the 'Magic Flute' as devised by Emanuel Schikaneder, which W.A. Mozart naturally had set to music as one of the greatest masterworks of all time. On the basis of this scenario, reduced to 'storyboards', George Gruntz arranged in the USA for a number of poets to write new texts - texts that would be suitable for jazz compositions and for performance by jazz vocalists and instrumentalists. A commission for George Gruntz from the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad finally led to the completion of 'The Magic of a Flute'.
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