Arts National
Host: Ian Alexander
Live from Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto.
Toronto Symphony conducted by Andrew Davis,
mezzo-soprano Judith Forst.
From the Diary of Anne Frank by Oskar Morawetz
January 15, 8.p.m (9.00 AT, 9.30 NT), Stereo
Twenty years went by before composer Oskar Morawetz could bring
himself to read Anne Frank: the diary of a young girl. When he finally
did, he was moved to capture the spirit of the young Jewish girl by setting her
words to music. But composing From the Diary of Anne Frank meant opening
up old wounds. In the excerpt Morawetz used, Anne fears for the safety of her
best friend Lies Goosens in a concentration camp. "The text is very close to
me," says Morawetz. "Many of my friends and relatives died in camps. To write
the music I had to express my own feelings and fears."
Morawetz fled Czechoslovakia and arrived in Canada in 1940.
Since then he has become one of Canada's leading composers, and his works have
been performed worldwide. Of his numerous compositions, Morawetz says the
dedication he composer to Anne Frank in 1970 remains his most personsal
statement.
Lies did survive the concentration camp, where Anne did not. Yet
Anne's soul soars in the music, which received an award from the Montreal Segal
Foundation as Canada's most important contribution to Jewish culture and music.
"I first heard the piece years ago and still remember its compelling power,"
says executive producer Keith Horner. In a concert broadcast live on Arts
National, the Toronto Symphony features the much-performed piece, with
mezzo-soprano Judith Forst, in honour of Morawetz's seventieth birthday.
