BRUNDIBAR
opera for children in two acts, libretto byAdolf Hoffmeister, translation by Maria Teresa Milano
music by Hans Krása (Terezin version 1943)
publisher Bote & Bock, Berlin, represented in Italy by Italia Casa Ricordi, Milano
Tony Contartese direction, scene, costumes, Mario Cecchetti director
Chamber ensemble of Città di Castello
White voices choir of Associazione Octava Aurea and Istituto comprensivo statale Alberto Burri di Trestina
Simone Nocchi, Mailis Põld, Marco Ferruzzi collaborator maestros, Klara Luznik and Francesco Banconi choir maestros, Catharina Sharp voice trainer, Alessia Martinelli production assistant
Pepicek Beniamino Manoni
Aninka Sofia Falorni
Brundibar Davide Francesconi
Iceman Eleonora Ciocca
Baker Camilla Noschese
Milkman Veronica Marinelli
Policeman Carolyn Beck
Sparrow Caterina Manoni
Cat Benedetta Simonini
Dog Aisling McGuinness
Co-production Festival delle Nazioni and Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena, in collaboration with Scuola comunale di musica Giacomo Puccini and Istituto comprensivo statale Alberto Burri of Trestina
Brundibar’s is a painful story but it’s also full of hope. It is a work for white voices and was composed by Czech composer Hans Krása, one of the many musicians who lost their lives during the tragedy of the holocaust. It was written in 1938 for a contest for children opera which never took place and was first performed in 1942 in a Jewish orphanage during the Nazi invasion of Prague; the composer at that time had been already moved to Theresienstadt and German authorities prohibited every cultural Jewish performance.
The story, does not deal with what life is like in a concentration camp: it is a simple tale of good feelings of children as opposed to the wicked ones of the adults – organetto player Brundibar looks like a sort of mean fire eater. Thanks to the collaboration of a dog, a cat and a sparrow , the children will eventually succeed to get rid of him and the pervasive horror of his wickedness, acknowledging the fact that “in union there is strength”.
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