Photo by Saul Young, copyright © 2012 // Buy this photo
SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL Adam Bell, Maggie Kohlbusch and Davonte Majors, from left, play the principle roles in the children's opera, "Brundibar." They are pictured during rehearsal at High Places Community Church on Jan. 30.
'Brundibar'
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11Where: Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center
For tickets, see www.orcma.org.
More information
"Brundibar" is a children's opera written in 1938 by Hans Krasa, with lyrics by Adolf Hoffmeister. The men were living in German-occupied Prague in Czechoslovakia.
Krasa, Hoffmeister and other adults involved in producing the show were soon deported to various concentration camps, and Krasa was send to Terezin, a town in the mountains of Czechoslovakia. Renamed Theresienstadt, it served as a concentration camp disguised as a "model ghetto." It was used by Germans as propaganda to show how well they were treating Jews, allowing them the freedom to write music and create art in the camp.
Krasa's piano score for "Brundibar" was smuggled in, and he rewrote the score for the few instruments he could round up. Children performed the opera at the camp 55 times between 1943 and 1944.
The Germans even filmed a production of "Brundibar" for a propaganda film. And in Sept. 1944, they invited the International Red Cross to see the town, sprucing it up with flowers and letting the children give another performance of the opera.
It would be their last.
In the fall of 1944, deportations increased, and most of the children were sent to their deaths. By the end of the war, of the estimated 141,000 prisoners who had been through Theresienstadt, only 21,000 survived. Of the 15,000 children at the camp, only 132 survived, none under the age of 12.
Fairy tales always have happy endings, don't they?
That's the case with "Brundibar," a children's opera being offered for the first time in East Tennessee Feb. 11 in Oak Ridge. But the real-life history of this opera, which was first performed by Jewish children during World War II, is one of great tragedy.
"It is a thought-provoking show in so many ways, and not all those thoughts are happy, unfortunately," said Dan Allcott, director of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, which is joining with Sound Company!, a children's show choir, to perform "Brundibar" at 8 p.m. in Oak Ridge High School's Performing Arts Center.
"Brundibar" was written in 1938 by Hans Krasa, a Jew living in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The first performers were Jewish children, almost all of whom perished later in German concentration camps.
The opera is only 40 minutes long, so the first part of the concert Saturday will include another piece by Krasa and other works by Jewish composers from the early twentieth century.
But after intermission, it is likely "Brundibar" will steal the show. Sets and props have been rented from the Asheville Lyric Opera, and the 40 members of the show choir — the group's middle school students — have been practicing since fall.
"The best benefit of all is the influence this has on the kids performing," said Allcott. "It is life-changing. They'll never forget this part of history."
"Brundibar" is an allegory about the Nazi reign of terror. "He's supposed to be Hitler. I guess you could say he's the villain, the antagonist," said Adam Bell, 13, who plays the evil organ-grinder Brundibar, complete with a fake mustache. Brundibar won't let anyone else play music in the town, and he steals money from two young children.
Despite the dark subject, "Brundibar" has a happy ending, culminating in a joyous victory march.
"It's a fun, playful piece, so it doesn't feel dark," said Katy Wolfe Zahn, director of Sound Company!
The opera was brought to the United States in the 1970s and has been performed many times since. In 2003, author Tony Kushner and illustrator Maurice Sendak wrote a picture book called "Brundibar."
"That's the great thing about art," said Allcott. "The longevity of this opera shows that, in the end, art does triumph over evil."
© 2012, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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