Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Defiant Requiem

A couple of singers are participating in this next month. This is a write-up provided by one of them, Linda Sperath.


In 1868 famed opera composer Giuseppe Verdi was grieving the loss of his colleague, the equally famous Gioachino Rossini. Verdi suggested to his publisher that the leading composers of Italy should collaborate in writing a mass for the dead in Rossini’s memory. Sadly, the project failed and the performance never took place. However, a few years later Verdi realized that the Requiem sections he had written constituted a valuable core that he could develop into a complete work – which is exactly what he did in 1873, and it was performed for the first time in 1874.

Fast-forward to 1941, when Rafael Schächter, a brilliant young conductor, was arrested by the Nazis and sent to the Theresienstadt (Terezín in Czech) concentration camp, along with many other accomplished artists and musicians. Schächter was determined to sustain courage and hope for his fellow prisoners by enriching their souls through great music. He recruited 150 prisoners and taught them Verdi’s Requiem by rote in a cellar using a single smuggled score, after grueling days of forced labor. He was forced to recon­stitute the choir three times as members were transported to Auschwitz. The Requiem was performed on 16 occasions for fellow prisoners. The last, most infamous performance occurred in June 1944 before high-ranking SS officers from Berlin and the International Red Cross, to support the charade that the prisoners were treated well and flourishing.

Fast-forward again to the 1990s, when American conductor Murry Sidlin discovered the story of Rafael Schächter and the Requiem at Terezín. Sidlin began to ask himself: Why would a large group of Jews, imprisoned for being Jewish, willingly volunteer to learn, rehearse, and perform such a demanding choral work of Catholic liturgy? He became convinced there was a hidden reason that this chorus of prisoners undertook such a risky endeavor. His research, including interviews with survivors and relatives of the prisoners, made it clear that the Verdi performances were a statement, an act of defiance and resistance against the Nazis. As Schächter told his choir and musicians, “We will sing to the Nazis what we cannot say to them.”

By this point in his exploration, Sidlin had also perfected a new kind of performance that he called the “concert-drama,” a combination of music, narration, and multimedia elements, as a new way to present traditional repertoire. He conceived and created the concert-drama Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín, which premiered in 2002. More performances followed, including three at Terezín, as well as documentary films. The production has now been presented more than 40 times worldwide and has raised more than $10 million in funding for survivors and Holocaust education.

Time-travel now to the near future – June 1, 2019 – when Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín will be presented at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville. The concert-drama will feature a full performance of Verdi’s Requiem, with an international cast of soloists, the Asheville Symphony, and a choir including members of the Asheville Symphony Chorus and the Asheville Choral Society. Video testimony from survivors of the original Terezín chorus, film segments, and actors’ interpretations will accompany the music. Sponsors include the Defiant Requiem Foundation and Carolina Jews for Justice. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster or at the US Cellular Center box office.

Why bring Defiant Requiem to Asheville? the sponsors provide this explanation:

“As time passes, there is a tendency to relegate tragedies such as the Holocaust to the distant past, diminishing their relevance to today’s world. [This performance] not only preserves the memory of the Holocaust, but also demonstrates how resistance to oppression is possible even in the most trying circumstances. The event raises these issues [across the region], stimulates thoughtful discussion, and provides educational opportunities for all ages – especially children – who may not know about the Holocaust. Music is a perfect vehicle to move beyond words and feel the essence of suffering and defiance.”

[Excerpts from defiantrequiem.org and local promotional materials.]
 

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