ANNE FRANK – An Opera in Two Acts (2016–2022)

PROGRAM NOTE

Composer’s Notes on Anne Frank

(as printed in the program book of the premiere performances by the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater in Bloomington, IN, on March 3, 4, 9, 10, 2023):

Anne Frank – the Diary of a Young Girl was a book I first read in Hebrew—I think it was a gift I received on my Bat Mitzvah—and I have carried that inauspicious-looking, gray-covered volume with me through the decades that followed. There was nothing inauspicious about the content of the book, however! I was gripped by it, written as it was by a young teenage girl who, at the onset of the diary, was just barely older than me.

Growing up as a child in Israel, the book was by no means my first introduction to the difficult subject of the Holocaust, as it would be for so many of the tens of millions reading the book in its multiple translations to many different languages across the globe; because, as with so many of my generation and of the people I knew, many of my own family—a grandfather, two uncles, a young cousin, and many others, all of whom I never had the chance to know—perished in the Holocaust. But it was “The Diary of Anne Frank” that allowed me and countless others an intimate look into a life lost in a way I had never imagined before.

Over the years I have composed several works that in various ways have the Holocaust at their center, starting with O The Chimneys composed in 1969–70 and most recently in Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory, my third string quartet composed in 2012–13 for the Pacifica Quartet. But Anne Frank was not a topic I would have thought of in operatic terms. When the idea was first brought up to me (by Dennis Hanthorn, formerly General Director of the Atlanta Opera), my first action was to approach librettist Charles Kondek, with whom I had a deeply meaningful prior collaboration on my first opera Between Two Worlds (The Dybbuk). I knew that with him I could seriously explore how we might turn the diary into something that would be suitable for the operatic stage. We both shared the view that such an opera ought to be about Anne Frank and the unfolding of her story as depicted in her diary, but at the same time bring into the opera a constant reminder of the outside, the horrific events taking place outside the cramped living quarters—the “secret Annex”—where Anne and seven more people were hiding for two years before being discovered and sent to their deaths (Otto Frank, Anne’s father, being the sole survivor). We both sought to create an opera that would in some important way have two levels of action, thus placing Anne Frank’s story within its broader context.

From the moment I made the decision that I would indeed create an opera that has the diary of Anne Frank at its center, I felt I had taken on a huge responsibility, and with responsibility comes risk. She, after all, had become such an incredible, larger-than-life, iconic figure for so many of us, her readers throughout the world. For a topic of this magnitude I decided I would make full use of a large orchestra and a significant chorus in addition to the cast of nine principals singers. In our opera, librettist Charles Kondek and I tried to show Anne as a young person of incredible imagination, exuberance, and wit; and a hugely gifted writer, of course, with an uncanny ability to comment on the world, on the people around her, on herself. She also can be seen as a visionary in terms of what she came to view, already at her young age, as her place in the world as a woman and her capacity as Writer. All that, and much much more. And yet we wanted to show her as the real person that she was, not put her on a pedestal.

The opera has two acts that are structured into a succession of scenes (and I use the term “scene” very loosely here, as we are really talking of “situations,” large and small, or “focal points” that flow into one another) that have a large sweep to them, and some that are very intimate, almost chamber-music-like. It is through the use of the chorus that the larger context of this opera is created, the outside world that at all times is present and encroaching on the events inside the Annex. Though closely based on the Diary, neither the libretto nor the opera is intended to be a replication of the Diary, or attempt to follow a precise historical narrative. It is, first and far most, about the Anne Frank spirit, and her humanity.

From the first time I read it, three unforgettable words, “a bundle of contradictions,” have remained forever carved in my mind. Pkâ’at shel stirôt (סתירות של פקעת) is how I read it in Hebrew. These words appear on the last two entries of the Diary, written by Anne on July 21, and August 1, 1944. In these words Anne is describing herself with truly extraordinary psychological detail and insight. I remember reading this passage over and over, but also turning to the next page, refusing to believe that a next page was not to be had. Anne, of course, had no idea that this would be the last page of her diary. WE know where all of this was heading. SHE did not! And so it is up to us, the living, to preserve the memory, which I have tried to do in this opera.

Acknowledgments from the Composer

Many people and organizations deserve my heartfelt gratitude for enabling this opera to have been created and presented here today.

Of that long list, special thanks must be expressed to Dennis Hanthorn, for lighting the flame in 2008; Maestro Arthur Fagen, who has been the opera’s guardian angel throughout; and Timothy Stebbins, for bringing it all together with grace and dedication.

And finally, my opera could not have been created without the support—every day, at all times—of Avi Lotan, my beloved husband. I dedicate this opera to him.

—Shulamit Ran

ANNE FRANK – Characters with Voice Types

Annex Members:

Anne Frank: soprano (possibly lyric coloratura soprano)
Otto Frank, her father: baritone
Mrs. Edith Frank, her mother: soprano
Margot Frank, Anne’s older sister: lyric mezzo soprano
Mr. Van Daan: baritone (possibly bass-baritone)
Mrs. Van Daan: soprano (possibly mezzo soprano or soprano with heavier sound)
Peter Van Daan, their son: lyric tenor
Dr. Dussel: character tenor

Miep Gies: mezzo soprano
Four or five drunk concentration/work camp guards
(one solo guard preferable bass or bass-baritone)
Prisoners’ Chorus
Birthday Party Guests
Children’s Chorus (Optional) for Happy Birthday, Act 1, Scene 4
Dancers for Anne’s Nightmare, Act 1, Scene 12

Instrumentation

1 Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes (Oboe 2 doubling English Horn), 2 Bb Clarinets, 1 Bass Clarinet,
1 Alto Saxophone, 2 Bassoons, 1 Contrabassoon
3 Horns, 3 C Trumpets, 3 Trombones, 1 Tuba
Harp
Celesta
Accordion
Timpani
Percussion (3 players minimum), see orchestra score for list of instruments
Strings

System and Sound Requirements

Although predominantly an acoustic opera, a series of pre-recorded sound cues requires a house sound system comprised of professional components in which the main array shall be arranged and operated in a stereo configuration. For proper immersion and effect, the sound design has been created to also utilize an immersive theatrical sound system. Playback for all sound design can be operated by 1 audio engineer with proficiency in Q-Lab software (full-license). For additional information see Sound Design Rider in the score.

Sound design created by Jacob Bauman using facilities of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Audio Engineering and Sound Production Department.

INFORMATION

Commissioned by
The University of Indiana
Jacobs School of Music
Opera and Ballet Theater

Premiere Production:
March 3, 4, 9, 10, 2023
Musical Art Center,
Bloomington, IN
Arthur Fagen, Conductor
Crystal Manich, Stage Director

Duration: c. 2 hours 30 minutes