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Holding onto hope: Sangre de Cristo Chorale opens season with tribute to Anne Frank
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The 48-voice Sangre de Cristo Chorale is opening its season with a tribute to Anne Frank.
In 2004, British composer James Whitbourn based his oratorio 鈥淎nnelies鈥� on 鈥淎nne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.鈥�
The chorale will perform the piece on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Santa Fe鈥檚 St. Bede鈥檚 Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Shalom on Sunday, Oct. 20.
Holding onto hope: Sangre de Cristo Chorale opens season with tribute to Anne Frank
鈥� 鈥楢苍苍别濒颈别蝉鈥� was Anne鈥檚 nickname in German,鈥� said music director George Case.
鈥淎nne Frank has long been considered a symbol of hope and humanity in the face of unspeakable tragedy,鈥� he continued. 鈥� 鈥楢苍苍别濒颈别蝉鈥� provides an experience for audiences to be brought into the story.鈥�
Soprano Jennifer Perez will narrate Anne鈥檚 voice, accompanied by piano, violin and clarinet.
Frank was a German Jewish girl who kept a diary for two years, documenting her life in hiding amid Nazi persecution during the German occupation of the Netherlands.
The music depicts the fear and horror of the Holocaust, but also the hope and love found in the diary, Case said. 鈥淎nnelies鈥� set her diary to music, beginning with Anne and her family going into hiding in Amsterdam to their capture by the Nazis two years later.
鈥淎n oratorio is basically an opera without the staging,鈥� Case said. 鈥淎n oratorio is historically what took place during Lent because they couldn鈥檛 perform operas.鈥�
There are scenes of the family going into the annex that hid them, accompanied by the fear of being discovered, Case added.
鈥淭here was a horse chestnut tree outside the annex,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚t was the only thing she could see. It was a symbol of hope for her.鈥�
The piece ends with a meditation about hearing the thunder approaching them. 鈥淏ut as long as you can look into the sky, you have hope,鈥� Anne wrote.
鈥淭he story doesn鈥檛 end well, but she had hope,鈥� Case said.
