A passionate outpouring of feelings from three sources resulted in a
stunning performance of 'From the Diary of Anne Frank' at the Orpheum
Sunday afternoon.
A golden voice of mezzo soprano Judith Forst poured out the music of
composer Oskar Morawetz and the tormented words of Nazi concentration
camp victim, Anne Frank.
[Written] by Dr. Morawetz after he read, and was deeply moved by,
the published diary of a teenage girl who spent two years in hiding
before she was betrayed to the Nazis.
In a talk at Temple Sholom on Thursday, Dr. Morawetz said the passage
in the diary he deals with expressed so exactly what he had felt during
the war that he was compelled to set it to music.
It is about a friend of Anne's who has been taken away. Anne,
wondering why she was spared and not her friend, expresses great
concern and great guilt.
Dr. Morawetz brilliantly captures the ephemeral, shifting moods of
the passage, crystalizing into music the passions of a 14 year-old
girl.
He revealed that he wrote the composition before he got permission
to use the copyrighted words. He had written the piece for the CBC,
and on instruction from an executive, wrote a business letter to the
publisher asking permission to use the words for the usual fee of $15.
On the way to the post office, it struck him it was ludicrous to offer
the small fee to the huge company. After tearing up the original
letter, he wrote a second one, speaking from the heart to how the diary
had affected him, a Jew who escaped the death camps while those around
him were taken.
The reply from the publisher said they did not hold the copyright:
it was held by Otto Frank, Anne's father, still alive in Europe.
Dr. Morawetz had had no idea the man was still alive. Mr. Frank
gladly gave permission to use the touching words of his daughter
in the symphony composition, starting a friendship that lasted until
his death nine years later.
Dr. Morawetz elaborated on the considerations that went into the
writing of this composition. He says he does not see a work as a whole
before he starts it. In this case, he started writing the orchestral
melody first. After a few bars, he wrote the music for the voice.
This allowed a more natural rhythm for the voice and pauses for
breath or thought.
He was also greatly concerned with retaining auditory comprehension.
The higher the note, the more difficult it is to understand, so he
used no extremes in the range for the voice.
From the Diary of Anne Frank starts in a dreamy mood, but, Dr.
Morawetz uses a variety of techniques to convey the shifting moods
of the text. A prayer-like part contains the first complete triad;
there is no dissonance to disrupt the prayer. Chromatic passages
express great sadness and muted horns convey a desperate mood while
sounding like a slow funeral march.
Towards the end of the piece, an impassioned segment of music demands
the full vigor of the orchestra. And right at the end, crying comes
through in the music as it wafts higher and higher, like a soul
going up to heaven.
Although written for soprano and orchestra, the composition loses none
of its richness in being sung by a mezzo soprano.
Judith Forst not only has a fabulous voice, but a completely
engaging stage manner as well. She enters fully into the music - not
only voice, but face and body also convey the message. She was in
complete control of the demanding score, reaching all notes easily
and giving them full substance.
Under the baton of Kazuyoshi Akiyama, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
captured the intensity of the music, playing through the 19 non-stop
minutes with freshness and vitality.
