To Breathe as One: Singing Freely in Estonia

Every five years, Estonia mounts a massive chorale festival called Laulupidu. Do not expect to hear “The Internationale” on the program anytime soon. Traditionally more than a concert, Laulipidu provided a venue for several extraordinary spontaneous acts of defiance during the Soviet years. Today, it continues as a symbol of Estonian freedom and a celebration of its culture. It is a big deal for the small number of international choirs that are invited to participate. For the Piedmont Children’s Choir, it will also be a world-expanding learning experience. With co-directors Bestor Cram and Mike Majoros, Singing Revolution filmmakers James and Maureen Castle Tusty return to Laulupido to follow the Piedmont choir’s journey in To Breathe as One (trailer here), which premieres on PBS World Channel this Friday.

As the Tustys documented in their previous film, even a heavily armed police state cannot silence thirty thousand voices singing in harmony. Frankly, the Estonians never fully submitted to their Communist occupiers. When cracks started appearing in the Iron Curtain, Estonia’s chorale tradition played a critical role unifying the renewed resistance. It is an inspiring story chronicled with sensitivity and authority in the Tustys’ The Singing Revolution, but they also provide a fine abridgment in Breathe.

The members of the Piedmont performance ensemble (predominantly high school and perhaps some middle school students) will come to appreciate that history as they learn their Estonian repertoire. The conscientious efforts of their director Robert Geary to connect the difficult pronunciations to their deeper cultural and historic meanings clearly bear fruit. In fact, they probably understand Baltic history better than most of our current foreign policy decision-makers (sadly, a pathetically low bar to clear).

A great deal of Breathe captures the Piedmont Choir’s person-to-person diplomacy, as they befriend and perform with their Estonian counterparts rather easily. It might sound pleasant but rather precious, in a “human interest” kind of way. However, the striking scale of the Laulupidu backdrop is not just photogenic. It provides a constant reminder of the wider significance of the festival.

Even if you do not think chorale music is your bag, the performances at Laulupidu will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. You can literally hear one hundred fifty years of tumultuous history crescendoing in triumph over their Czarist and Communist oppressors. It is also a timely reminder of the precariousness of liberty, particularly in light of Putin’s expansionist ambitions. Does anyone seriously think the Obama administration has a plan of response should the Russians move against our Baltic NATO allies?

While they stand alone, the macro Singing Revolution and micro Breathe would be even better viewed in tandem. Both films are highly recommended for students, but Breathe will likely be somewhat more accessible for young viewers. A must-see for lovers of freedom and chorale music, To Breathe as One airs this Friday (6/27) on PBS World Channel.

DocuWeeks ’12: Defiant Requiem

A Catholic requiem in a concentration camp might sound like a problematic endeavor.  So it was, but not necessarily for the reasons one might assume.  It was actually the programming choice of a group of prisoners, led by a remarkable maestro.  The story of the Terezin performances of Verdi’s Requiem and the subsequent on-site re-staging for survivors decades later are documented in Doug Shultz’s Defiant Requiem (trailer here), which screens as part of the 2012 DocuWeeks in New York and Los Angeles.

Verdi’s Requiem is a draining chorale work, in many ways.  It would not seem like a natural piece of music to unwind with after a hard day of labor—slave labor to be more accurate.  However, these were far from normal times for the Terezin (a.k.a. Theresienstadt) concentration camp captives.  These Czech citizens had been swept up by the conquering National Socialists and held at Terezin until they were deported to a death camp.  Nonetheless, many died at Terezin due to the inhuman conditions, but a determined young conductor harnessed the power of music to keep their spirits up.

Gathering those interested around an old upright providentially discovered in the basement of his barracks, Rafael Schächter started his make-shift chorus off with Czech popular songs and Smetana operas, but he eventually coaxed them into the Requiem.  The key might have been his translation of Verdi’s Latin into Czech.  As Murry Sidlin, the conductor of the commemorative Requiem concerts observes, the Requiem’s lyrics hold tremendous meaning for anyone unjustly denied their liberty and dignity.  Rife with prophesies of judgment from above, Verdi’s opus is not just a requiem.  It became a J’Accuse—an indictment of the National Socialist crimes so bold, only the International Red Cross inspectors could miss its significance.

Yes, the Requiem was performed at that Terezin, the concentration camp temporarily remodeled into a Potemkin village to fool the Red Cross.  It was there that Sidlin brought members of Catholic University of America chorale ensemble and a full orchestra, for an emotional performance.

In fact, mounting Verdi’s Requiem and telling the story of Schächter has become a mission for Sidlin, who serves as the film’s musical director and one of its primary commentators.  It is an important story, but the film also fosters a greater appreciation for Verdi’s work.  Wisely, Shultz takes a rather traditional documentarian approach, largely approximating the shape of Sidlin’s music-with-historical-context concert presentations of the Requiem, filling in here and there with tastefully recreated scenes in the rehearsal cellar and some animated sequences adapted from surviving Terezin drawings.  This is hardly the place to get experimental, after all.

Granted, anyone who knows anything about the Holocaust and the fate of the Terezin prisoners in particular will sadly know exactly what to expect from the film.  Nonetheless, it deepens our understanding of life at Terezin and offers up an example of music as an instrument of survival.  Frankly, hearing some of the stormier passages promising divine justice will likely make viewers’ hair stand on end.  Highly recommended precisely for such memorable moments, Defiant Requiem screens through Thursday (8/9) in New York at the IFC Center as part of DocuWeeks New York as well the week of August 17-23 during DocuWeeks LA.

The Collegiate Chorale’s Remembrance through Music

Alexander Kulisiewicz was not Jewish. A political prisoner at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and a songwriter in his own right, Kulisiewicz witnessed the final rehearsal of Martin Rosenberg’s clandestine inmate chorus. It would be disrupted by the SS, who were to transport Rosenberg and his chorale to the certain death of Auschwitz. Rosenberg implored Kulisiewicz to remember their music, which he did. Indeed, the efforts of survivors like Kulisiewicz made possible the Collegiate Chorale’s concert of solemn remembrance, We Remember Them: Choral Music from the Camps and the Ghettos, which was greatly appreciated by a capacity audience last night at New York’s Central Synagogue.

Given the subject matter and fates of most of the composers, the proceedings had an inescapable heaviness. Often the audience seemed unsure if applause was appropriate after each selection. However, the power of the program was equally undeniable. It was also quite enlightening, thanks to the well thought-out commentary provided by Chorale conductor James Bagwell and Central Synagogue’s senior cantor Angela Warnick Buchdahl, who served as the evening’s host.

In addition to Rosenberg, the audience heard the story of Lea Rudnitska, a Lithuanian Jewish poet who cared for the orphaned babies of parents murdered or forcibly removed to the death camps. Her lullaby “Dremien Feygl,” which she set to Leyb Yampolsky’s music, served as a starkly powerful opener.

Several selections involved chorale adaptations of poems, including Hannah Senesh’s stirring “Blessed is the Match.” An Israeli national hero, the Hungarian-born Senesh left the safety of what was then the British Mandate to serve as a paratrooper and a liaison between the British and the Eastern European Jewry. Tragically though, she was quickly captured by the National Socialists, who imprisoned, tortured, and eventually executed the young poet. Yet, the brief quatrain she handed to a surviving comrade would hold special significance for generations of her countrymen.

Unlike typical concerts, varying the tone and tempo of We Remember Them would be nearly impossible. However, Paul Epstein’s arrangements of “Two Partisan Song (Yidishe Brigades/Zog Nit Keynmol)” allowed for a more muscular piano accompaniment from Kenneth Bowen, as well as a brief but beautiful solo by Buchdahl. It also offered an opportunity to celebrate Jewish resistance, in addition to commemorating the lives lost during the Holocaust. Fittingly, the sensitively conceived program ended on its most dramatic note, Maimonides’s prayer “Ani Ma’amin,” which became known as “hymn of the camps.”

Frankly, performing such meaningful music is an intimidating proposition, but the Collegiate Chorale handled it with grace. It was a truly impressive show, clearly inspiring all participants. Boasting a rich history, the Chorale was founded by Robert Shaw and has performed with some of the world’s great conductors, including Toscanini, Bernstein, and Mehta. Those who missed the previous concerts of their 2010-2011 Season can make up for it at their finale and spring benefit show on May 19th, featuring an evening of Broadway with Deborah Voigt and special guest Paulo Szot.

(Photo: Erin Baiano)