海角大神

Hundreds came to聽the Frankfurt Opera recently to listen to a Polish woman tell her story 鈥� the incredible story 鈥� that had inspired the opera they were about to see, 鈥淭he Passenger,鈥� by Polish-Russian composer Mieczys艂aw Weinberg. 聽

One day, the story began, 16 years after World War II, Zofia Posmysz was reporting a piece for Polish Radio at the Place de la Concorde in Paris when a German voice brought her back to a horrifying past. Was it that of a warden at the Auschwitz concentration camp, where she had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1945? The thought inspired her to write 鈥淭he Passenger,鈥� a novel about the unexpected re-encounter between a former SS guard and an inmate while on a cruise.

Far away in Moscow, Mr. Weinberg read 鈥淭he Passenger鈥� and asked Ms. Posmysz to visit. Only music could tell the story, their story, he said. His own family had perished at Auschwitz. 鈥淗e wanted to know every detail about life in the camp,鈥� Posmysz recalled. He wrote 鈥淭he Passenger鈥� opera to a libretto by Alexander Medvedev.聽

Weinberg, who had composed prolifically, considered 鈥淭he Passenger鈥� his best work. But it was censored by the Soviet regime, and not until 2010, long after he died, did 鈥淧assazhierka鈥� premi猫re at the Bregenz Festival in Austria. It was a hit. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 traveled the world since, and I with it,鈥� Posmysz told the Frankfurt crowd.聽

鈥淭he Passenger鈥� tells of the suffering but also the human bonds formed at Auschwitz. Its music thrusts the audience into themes of guilt, denial, retribution, and absolution. That Posmysz still travels to tell her story is a gift. Could she forgive? It鈥檚 difficult to forgive Hitler and Stalin, she said. But those who sent her to Auschwitz? 鈥淚鈥檓 inclined to forgive.鈥澛�

鈥淭he Passenger鈥� will be staged at the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit in November and at the Florida Grand Opera in Miami in April 2016, after running in Houston, New York, and Chicago.