Cohen & Brevoort: Steal A Pencil for Me

$19.99
Label
Sono Luminus
Release Date
August 23, 2024
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Gerald Cohen, Deborah Brevoort
    • PERFORMER
      Opera Colorado
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      August 23, 2024
    • UPC
      053479703408
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SLE-70034
    • LABEL
      Sono Luminus
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Orchestral & Symphonic
    Works ⌄

    1. Act I Scene 1: A Party in Amsterdam: It's Good to see you! (Chorus, Lisette, Jaap, Manja, Ina, Rudi, Abraham)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    2. Act I Scene 1: A Party in Amsterdam (Cont'd): There's the girl I should have married! (Jaap, Ina, Jaap, Manja, Rudi)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    3. Act I Scene 2: Journey to Westerbork: Thirtieth September, Nineteen-forty-three (Commandant, Abraham, Lisette, Chorus, Jaap)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    4. Act I Scene 3: Arrival in Westerbork - Tuesday Transport: Proceed to Administration (Nazi Guard 1, Nazi Guard 2, Commandant, Chorus)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    5. Act I Scene 4: Jaap Swings into Action: Get your things, Manja! We are moving to Barrack 64! (Jaap, Manja, Nazi Guard 2, Nazi Guard 1)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    6. Act I Scene 5: Ina Talks to Rudi: Rudi! Rudi! Where did you go? (Ina, Rudi)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    7. Act I Scene 6: Behind the Barracks: Hello, Remember me? (Jaap, Ina)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    8. Act I Scene 7: A Pencil Is Stolen: How quickly Tuesday seems to come (Chorus, Manja, Jaap, Commandant)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    9. Act I Scene 8: Messenger of Love: My Always dearest girl (Jaap, Nazi Guard 1, Nazi Guard 2, Ina, Manja, Lisette)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    10. Act I Scene 8: Messenger of Love (Cont'd): Thank you for your Letter (Ina, Lisette, Jaap)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    11. Act I Scene 9: Gossip: They're in love! They're in love! (Lisette, Chorus, Manja, Ina, Jaap, Commandant)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    12. Act II Scene 1: Roll Call in Bergen-Belsen: Roll Call! Morning Roll Call (Commandant, Nazi Guard 1, Nazi Guard 2, Chorus)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    13. Act II Scene 2: The Things I Want to Tell You: You're alive! You're here! (Ina, Jaap)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    14. Act II Scene 2: The Things I Want to Tell You (Cont'd): The things I want to tell you? (Manja, Jaap, Ina, Abraham)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    15. Act II Scene 3: Steal a Pencil for Me: He's writing another letter! (Lisette, Jaap, Ina, Commandant)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    16. Act II Scene 4: Darkness Descends: On the path past the barracks (Ina, Nazi Guard 2, Nazi Guard 1)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    17. Act II Scene 5: I Can't Remember Your Face: Rudi! Rudi! Is it true? (Ina, Rudi)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    18. Act II Scene 6: Passover - Roll Call Contemplation: Another Passover is here and still we are not free! (Jaap, Chorus, Commandant, Lisette, Ina, Nazi Guard 1, Nazi Guard 2, Manja, Abraham)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    19. Act II Scene 7: Final Transport: 6th of April, 1954! (Commandant, Nazi Guard 1, Nazi Guard 2, Jaap, Lisette, Chorus)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    20. Act II Scene 8: Liberation: Three days, Three nights, Standing, Sitting (Chorus, Lisette, Manja, Jaap, Ina)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    21. Act II Scene 9: A Reunion in Amsterdam: We are the lucky ones (Chorus, Abraham, Ina, Manja)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto

    22. Act II Scene 9: A Reunion in Amsterdam (Cont'd): My always dearest girl (Jaap, Ina, Manja, Rudi)

      Composer: Gerald Cohen

      Ensemble: Opera Colorado Orchestra

      Conductor: Ari Pelto


Steal a Pencil for Me, by composer Gerald Cohen and librettist Deborah Brevoort, is an opera in two acts about one of the Holocaust's most unusual love stories-between Jaap Polak, a Dutch accountant, and Ina Soep, the daughter of a wealthy diamond manufacturer-who fell in love while imprisoned in the Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. Based on their love letters, which were published in a book of the same title, Steal a Pencil for Me is about the indestructibility of the life spirit and the power of humankind to survive adversity. The opera dramatizes intimate concerns and private dramas alongside the epic horrors of the Holocaust. The action of Steal a Pencil for Me takes place in Amsterdam, at Westerbork transit camp, and at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp between the years of 1943-1945. Thirty-year old Jaap Polak is unhappily married to Manja, a capricious woman with a sharp tongue. He falls in love with 20-year old Ina Soep, whose boyfriend, Rudi Acohen, has been seized and deported to Poland by the Nazis. When Jaap, Manja, and Ina are deported to Westerbork, they actually find themselves living in the same barracks. Jaap's wife objects to the relationship, and Jaap and Ina resort to writing secret love letters, which sustain them throughout the horrible circumstances of the war. Rudi appears onstage in the opera in Ina's mind, as she gradually reconciles herself to her grief over losing him. Gerald Cohen knew Jaap and Ina for over 25 years, and was inspired to write the opera after hearing their story and reading their letters. He and Deborah Brevoort met with them many times in the process of writing the libretto, and Jaap and Ina were present at the first workshop of the opera in celebration of Jaap's 100th and Ina's 90th birthdays. Steal a Pencil for Me was given it's premiere production in 2018 by Opera Colorado. The album, recorded in Denver in 2022, features most of the central performers of the Opera Colorado production, with Ari Pelto as conductor, and (in the principal vocal roles) Gideon Dabi as Jaap, Inna Dukach as Ina, and Adriana Zabala as Manja. Further information on Steal A Pencil For Me, including the full libretto, can be found at: https://www. Geraldcohenmusic. com/compositions/opera/steal-a-pencil-for-me/