Two of the composers who created the genre of grand opéra in Paris in the 1830s were Jewish: Giacomo Meyerbeer and Fromenthal Halévy, whose opera La Juive (The Jewess, 1835) was to remain a cornerstone of the repertory for many decades. Though set in a real period of persecution in 15th-century Constance, it is highly romanticized, written for its spectacle and passion. We shall contrast this with clips from two post-Holocaust operas. The Passenger by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, composed in 1968 but not produced until 2010, is about a German woman traveling on a passenger liner whose accidental sight of a former camp inmate on a lower deck makes her relive her former life as a camp guard, which she has tried to hide even from her diplomat spouse. And The Promise by Mats Larsson Gothe, which premiered only this year, is a dreamlike (but real) account of a survivor's postwar journey to be reunited with her lost husband.

Brief synopses of the scenes we shall watch from all three operas are included in the handouts. Longer versions of each are given in the Synopses link above. For further information about The Passenger, I recommend this excellent article by David Pountney, who directed its stage premiere, and the intriguing trailer for his production. rb.