“Steal a Pencil for Me”
The New Recording of an Important Opera Composed by an Assistant Professor in the H. L. Miller Cantorial School
The recording of , an opera by composer Gerald Cohen (Assistant Professor, H. L. Miller Cantorial School) and librettist Deborah Brevoort, has just been released on Sono Luminus Recordings.
Steal a Pencil for Me is about one of the Holocaust鈥檚 most unusual love stories鈥攂etween Jaap Polak, a Dutch accountant, and Ina鈥� Soep, the daughter of a wealthy diamond manufacturer鈥攚ho fell in love while imprisoned in the Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. 鈥疊ased on their love letters, which were published in a book of the same title, Steal a Pencil for Me鈥� is about the indestructibility of the life spirit and the鈥痯ower of humankind to survive adversity. The opera dramatizes intimate concerns and private dramas alongside the epic horrors of the Holocaust.
Jaap and Ina survived the war, moved to the United States, and were married for more than 65 years. Gerald Cohen knew them as beloved members of Shaarei Tikvah in Scarsdale, NY, where he serves as cantor. He was inspired to write the opera after hearing their story and reading their letters.
Cantor Cohen writes, “While writing the libretto, Deborah and I met with Jaap and Ina many times. It is a rare privilege to work with the characters of one鈥檚 opera as it is being created.”
In 2013, 91快播 hosted one of the first workshop performances of the complete work, given in celebration of Jaap鈥檚 100th and Ina鈥檚 90th birthdays. Jaap and Ina were both present, and it was a deeply emotional experience both for them and for the performers.
After the performance, Ina said to Deborah, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how you did this. You captured my life even though it didn鈥檛 happen exactly that way. How did you do that?鈥�
鈥淲e listened to you,鈥� Deborah replied.
鈥淲ell, that鈥檚 my life,” Ina said. “You got it. You captured it.鈥�
In 2018, the opera had its fully staged premiere production by Opera Colorado in Denver. The new recording features many of the performers from that premiere production.
Cantor Cohen writes: 鈥淒eborah and I, and so many others, had the great privilege of knowing Jaap, Ina, and other survivors of the Holocaust, but the generation of survivors is growing old, and soon it will be up to subsequent generations to continue to share and remember. With its tale of everyday survival in the course of the horror of war and imprisonment and its special origins from a deep personal connection with its main characters, we hope that our opera鈥痺ill help to continue to pass on the lessons of that time, the humanity of those who suffered through it, and the memory of those who lost their lives.鈥�
The opera recording is available for streaming and downloading, and as a CD. More information is available .
