Morawetz's 'Anne Frank' does justice to young heroine
The highlight of the Beth Tikvah-CBC Radio concert commemorating the 60th
birthday of Canada's leading Jewish composer, Oskar Morawetz (whose major symphonic work
From the Diary of
Anne Frank was the featured attraction), came during the post-concert reception, when "Mr. Kraler" (Victor Kugler), who hid the Franks for nearly two years in the basement of his Amsterdam house, appeared in person, introduced by Morawetz. Kugler now lives in Toronto.
I only wish that this moving event had taken place during the concert itself, not only so that the entire paying audience would have witnessed it but, even more important so that the much larger radio audience could have heard it
as well.
Not only does Oskar Morawetz's symphony do total justice to the heroic memory of Anne Frank; by any standard, it remains a classic. Morawetz is one of the few survivors of the legacy of Bartok, Prokofiev and Shostakovich - an era which began with Stravinsky and, in retrospect, was perhaps the most
fruitful era of musical sophistication, freedom and creativity in history.
All of these influences are present in Diary. But, much more importantly, Morawetz transcends them with his own sense
of abstract liturgy, as expressed by the powerful text in which Anne Frank prays for her former school friend Lies Goosen, who had just been transported to a concentration
camp. (Ironically, Lies survived and Anne Frank herself died in Bergen-Belsen.)
Here is a remarkable fusion of emotional straight-from-the-gut humanistic pleading with all of the subtle atonal nuances skilfully utilized in
order to simulate the feared horrors in the back of Anne Frank's mind.
Belva Spiel's full, yet softly sensitive, voice was ideal in conveying Anne Frank's spirit of tender yet, overpowering concern. She needed an additional microphone to project her more strongly out to the live audience, as the horns sometimes drowned her out.
On the radio tape, where a proper sound balance has already been attained, she will undoubtedly be heard that much more clearly.
The CBC Festival Orchestra. under the direction of Boris Brott, sounded much more polished and sensitive than during the last time I heard them; and this sense of resulting confidence added that much more to an intelligent presentation of this most vital work.
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