Reviving Yiddish Stage and Screen, Part I: Bas-Sheve (1924)

Please join us for this spectacular two-part program in Schoenberg Hall inaugurating the Milken Center’s three-day conference, “Sonic Representations of Jewishness, Onscreen and Off.”

We begin at 4 PM with the U.S. premiere of Bas-Sheve (1924), a one-act Yiddish-language opera/melodrama by composer Henech Kon and librettist Moishe Broderzon. Recently rediscovered, completed and orchestrated by distinguished Yiddish experts Diana Matut, Josh Horowitz, and Michael Wex, Bas-Sheve is based on the tragic biblical story of David and Bathsheba. Milken Center artistic director Neal Stulberg conducted North American premiere performances of the opera at the 2022 Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto. Our concert performance features four vocal soloists, chamber chorus, and a 20-piece orchestra, with projected images accompanying the performance.
Following a break, the program continues later that evening with Part II: a screening of “Freylekhe Kabtsonim” (“Jolly Paupers”). See related event posting. RSVP for one or both events.

This event is made possible by the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.