Composer Gerald Cohen's opera "Steal a Pencil for Me" out now on Sono Luminus
Opera Colorado performs the dramatic work, with music by Cohen and libretto by Deborah Brevoort
Based on the true story of a love triangle in a concentration camp
Sono Luminus presents Steal a Pencil for Me, the hauntingly beautiful new opera album from composer Gerald Cohen and librettist Deborah Brevoort released August 23, 2024.
An opera in two acts, Steal a Pencil for Me is a love story full of hope; a drama of overcoming great adversity, set during the dark times of World War II concentration camps. It is based on the true story of Jaap and Ina Polak, who fell in love as prisoners, amid great loss, helping each other to survive. 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 in the midst of the epic tragedy of the Holocaust.
Steal a Pencil for Me was given its 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.
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 personally, 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 is available on CD from Sono Luminus and the digital album can be found on all major streaming platforms. Further information on the opera, including the full libretto, can be found below.
Contact ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com to request a physical CD or digital copy of this recording.