A Commemorative Concert on the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Upraising.
By Lina Broydo
80 years ago on April 19, 1943, the Jews of Warsaw took up armed struggle against their Nazi oppressors. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the first major civilian rebellion in Nazi occupied Europe and the largest extended act of arms resistance by Jews during World War II.
The uprising capped a three-year ordeal that began in 1940, when the German conquerors of Poland began confining Jews within newly decreed ghettos in Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow and elsewhere. Most of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were transported to Treblinka death Camp in 1942.
As part of the international commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, San Francisco Opera and Taube Philanthropies presented Rise Up And Resist: A Commemorative Concert on the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The program span solemn musical remembrance; outlawed music performed in the Warsaw ghetto in defiance of the Nazi regime; music performed by the Jewish Symphony Orchestra in the Ghetto; folk music celebrating Jewish, Polish-Jewish and Polish cultural heritage; and uplifting music of the time. Works will include music by Dovid Beigelman and Isaiah Shpigl (arranged by Eytan Pessen), Ernest Bloch, Frédéric Chopin, Albert Harris, Szymon Laks, Dimitri Pakras, Karol Szymanowski, Alexandre Tansman, Henryk Wars and Mieczysław Weinberg.
On Friday April 28, 2023:
The architecturally stunning 299-seat Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater was the perfect intimate setting for greeting Shabbat, say Kaddish with Stephen Pearce, Senior Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Emanu-El and be mesmerized, cry and laugh by the beautiful emotional concert presented in collaboration between San Francisco Opera and Taube Philanthropies and conceived and curated by Gregory Henkel.
The sell-out crowd was treated to the unforgettably superb performances by the talented singers, musicians and even some amazingly entertaining “Sex Appeal” vignette by Oakland native Mezzo-Soprano Nikola Printz and accordionist Ron Borelli. Who knew?
Observing the performers, who descended and currently work in the Bay Area theaters, who sang in perfect Yiddish, was truly unbelievable and very surprising, as I speak Yiddish and I appreciated their efforts.
Bravo to the participating artists who conveyed so vividly the beauty, soulful and tragic sadness and even some humor at this special evening commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Artists: Arianna Rodriguez, Mikayla Sager, Olivia Smith, Gabrielle Betieg, Nicola Printz, Moises Salazar, Jongwon Han, Kay Stern, Jeremy Preston, Joy Fellows, Thalia Moore, Jose Gonzales Granero, David Tanenbaum, Ron Borelli, Ronny Michael Greenberg, Yang Lin, Carrie-Ann Matheson, Marika Yasuda.
Ending the concert with the “Ale Mentshn Zaynen Brider/ Ode to Joy” –
All people are brothers:
Black, White, Brown, Yellow;
Only the colors are different.
But their nature is the same.
My heartfelt thanks to the Bay Area philanthropists Dianne and Tad Taube for keeping the memories alive of the horrid past and painful history for me personally, who lost both sets of grandparents who perished in the ghetto of Grodno, Poland and who never had a chance to love, hug and spoil their little grandchild Lina Rosianski Broydo.
Never Again!
In the photo: Philanthropists: Dianne and Tad Taube
