Holocaust remembered with triumphant music
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra presented an auspicious concert
last evening, playing two works of great significance: From the
Diary of Anne Frank by Oskar Morawetz, and the Canadian premiere
of Symphony No.4, Memorial Candles, by Benjamin Lees.
[...]
Oskar Morawetz is a composer who continues to exert a profound
influence on Canadian composers. In From the Diary of Anne Frank
he has expressed the anger, the horror, the agony, and finally the
simple faith of this young girl. It is a complex, impassioned work.
When the final major chord is played it is as if Anne Frank has
finally found peace.
In this and in the symphony the contribution made by soprano
Geraldine Patterson was almost beyond measure. Singing music
of exquisite difficulty she gave a moving performance of great
integrity.
[...]
Both composers were present to accept the applause from an
audience of 1,500.
[...]
