And the Rat Laughed

Theatre in music
Opera in 10 scenes for 8 singers, girls' choir and orchestra

General

Nava Semel

Based on Nava Semel's book
Music: Ella Milch-Sheriff
Libretto: Nava Semel & Ella Milch-Sheriff
First performance: April 2005 in Tel-Aviv By the ICO (Israel Chamber Orchestra) in co-production with the Cameri Theatre, Tel-Aviv
Conductor: Ori Leshman
Stage director: Oded Kotler
Publisher: none (hire material by the composer)

Instrumentation

• 2 (Piccolo), 2 (E.H.),2,2; 2 Hns, 2 Trp in C, Timpani
• Percussion (1-2 players) Triangle, Tambourine, Whip, Cymbals, Temple Blockes, Glockenapiel, Xylophone, Snare Drum, Tubular Bells, Bass drum
• Strings
• Lima, Soprano
• Granddaughter, Soprano
• Girl, Soprano
• Grandmother, Mezzo-Soprano
• Farmer's wife, Mezzo-Soprano
• Priest, Baritone
• Stash, high Baritone or low Tenor
• Farmer, Bass-Baritone
• Girl's (women) Chorus

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Synopsis

And the Rat Laughed, is an original opera in Hebrew based on Nava Semel's book, published three years ago to rave reviews. The music was written by Ella Milch-Sheriff. This novel dealing with the horrors of the Holocaust and the influence of this harrowing chapter of human history was highly praised for its courage in employing original and unconventional literary devices.

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This is the story of a nameless five-year-old girl, as told to her granddaughter years later. The child’s parents entrust her to a family of farmers living in a remote Polish village. She is hidden in a dark potato cellar for over a year, with little food, and only a rat for company - and is repeatedly raped by the farmers’ son.

When the girl's parents no longer send money, the farmer's wife takes her to the village priest, urging him to kill her. But Father Stanislaw hides the Jewish child in his church and risks his life in healing her wounded body and broken soul.

Sixty years later, already a grandmother in Tel Aviv, she tries to recount her horrifying childhood to her teenage granddaughter who is preparing a school paper. Memory, buried in the darkness for so long, demands its right to emerge. The five genres of the book: story, legend, poetry, futuristic fantasy and diary, are entwined to create the libretto.

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Lima Energelly, an anthropologist in the year 2099 is bent on uncovering the origins of the widespread myth "Girl & Rat" and is the main figure in the opera, who reveals on stage the circles of Remembearers, those who have the traumatic event registered in their consciousness. Futuristic Lima tries to force the memory on her partner Stash, who bears the same name as the rat who was once the only comfort of the hidden girl.

The highlight of the opera is a Mass scene, when Father Stanislaw rebels against his Lord, who abandoned His children. In an attempt to restore the girl's hope and her faith, the priest discovers he has lost his own.

Each of the characters is represented in the music with his or her own special elements. Lima, the future woman, has a robotic sound around her coming mainly from the orchestra. Nevertheless she becomes more and more human and emotional as she enters the story. The grandmother's lines are usually very melodic and mellow, full of sorrow. The girl's thoughts are sung throughout by the choir somehow monotonously, like a Greek chorus but then, as the words become unbearable, the music becomes more and more harmonic and even sweet and provides a marked contrast to the meaning, thus amplifying the pain.

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The priest starts his mass in Latin with Christian musical themes, but as he goes on and denies his belief because of the evil done in this world, more and more Jewish musical motifs appear between his lines.

When the mass is over, the girl starts to sing. She is accompanied throughout by the oboe. Her musical lines are pure and simple but combine motifs from the grandmother and granddaughter. As the opera goes on, there is a kind of mixture between the musical motifs of all the characters as their lives intertwine.

The orchestra has an important role as it brings out the differences between the three dimensions in the opera but the most important part is played by the singers who move the plot forward.

The music, generally, is very communicative and comprehensible, even when heard for the first time.

The opera is 1 hour and 35 minutes long.

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Credits

Originally played by The Israeli Chamber Orchestra and conducted by Ori Leshman.
Director: Oded Kotler.
Grandmother (Mezzo-Soprano): Bavat Marom.
Lima Energelly (Soprano): Mai Israeli.
Priest / Father Stanislaw (Bass-Baritone): Alexey Kanunikof.
The Girl in the Pit / Grandmother as a child (Soprano): Einat Aronstein.
Grand-daughter (Soprano): Claire Meghnagi.
Stash (Baritone): Yvgeny Nyegenyetz.
Farmer's Wife (Mezzo-Soprano): Anat Iny.
Farmer (Bass-Baritone): Gabriel Loewenheim.
Girls' Choir: The Moran Children Choir, conducted by Naomi Faran.
Stage and Costume designer: Adrian Vaux.
Lightening Designer: Keren Granek.
Opening night: April 9, 2005, The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv.

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Video and Audio Clips

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Press

“I was trembling with excitement. It was shocking in the inner force of Nava Semel’s text and libretto. It was spine-chilling in the quality of Ella Milch-Sheriff’s music. I could hear how the tears pouring from the music, how it began to cry... This is one of the most superb operas ever written in Israel... It was stirring to hear choral pieces so electrifying in their poetry. And what a profound and brilliant orchestration. All the singers were superb. The girls of the Moran choir sang like angels. The Israeli Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Ori Leshman was at its best. Director Oded Kotler’s minimalist direction was brilliant.
If you miss this opera, the loss is yours. It is not just an opera, it is an event.”

Hanoch Ron, Yedioth Ahronoth

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“The three-sided encounter between Nava Semel’s story, which in itself is vast and powerful, Ella Sheriff’s music that heightens the content and underpins it, and Oded Kotler’s penetrating, implied and sensitive direction creates the kind of artistic treasure that Wagner termed “a combination of the arts” (Gesamtkunstwerk) at its best... ... The story, the music and the direction are palpitating in their force and perpetuate not only the Holocaust, but also the great talent of the creators of this opera.”

Ora Binur, Ma’ariv

“...it is the music which elevates the story to the point of manifesting in its own unique plane: on the one hand it is contemporary with no conspicuous structure that can be easily defined, it is sometimes intentionally disharmonic and chromatic. The opera is not built in the standard classic-romantic, recitative-aria form; it is a musical drama sung throughout, with many capturing harmonic and melodic passages. ... This artistic framework, which uniquely combines opera and theatre, is a spellbinding experience from start to finish. Through the writing of Ella Sheriff, the challenging Hebrew language came out comprehensibly sung, the roles are molded with emotional conviction ... in a nutshell, beautiful.”

Michael Handelsaltz, Ha’aretz

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“Milch-Sheriff has written richly expressive music to the extremely cogent libretto, which she wrote together with Nava Semel. Each circle has its melodic or rhythmic qualities and with very vivid orchestration she succeeds in giving rich and clear musical expression to Semel’s book. Each character and scene is blended into a texture of exceptional musical quality, like links in a complete and continuous musical chain. The music reaches its climax when Sheriff combines with innovative imagination liturgical music and the "other", contemporary, music or that music which symbolizes the future.

From time to time there emerge familiar Jewish motives from within the orchestra but without crossing the border into sentimentality.

...It is to the credit of everyone involved in the performance of this unique opera that they have not neglected the small details, those that transform the whole into a living organism.”

Zvi Goren, Habamah Internet Website

“Sheriff possesses a unique melodic talent... the melody is surprising, exciting, tastefully orchestrated, fully justifying the text for which it was written... The opera is performed without pausing for breath, scene follows scene as the emotions and dynamics intensify ... The libretto was written with cinematic perspective... An excellent performance sent an exhilarated audience home from the auditorium.”

Noam Ben-Ze’ev, Ha’aretz

Article in "Atmosphera" magazine Dec. 2005		Article in "Atmosphera" magazine Dec. 2005 (Hebrew)
Article in "Der Blick" Switzerland Dec. 2005 (German)		Article in "Time Out" magazine 2.02.2006 (Hebrew) part 1 part 2 part 3
Critic by Michael Handelzaltz, Haaretz 12.04.2005 (Hebrew)		Critic by Hanoch Ron, Yediot Acharonot 12.04.2005 (Hebrew)
Critic by Ora Binur, Maariv 12.04.2005 (Hebrew)		Critic by Alice Blitenthal, Tel Aviv Magazine 19.04.2005 (Hebrew)
Critic by Ora Binur, Galey Tzahal 11.04.2005 (Hebrew)		Article by Yael Veltzer, Tzomet Hasharon 3.06.2005 (Hebrew) part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5
Article in Vesti 15.09.2006 (Russian) part 1 part 2

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Performances

The opera poster in Warsaw, Poland

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The Cameri theatre, Tel-Aviv:
April 9-13, 2005
July 17-18, 2005
August 1-4, 2005
September 12-14, 25-26, 2005

The Opera House, Tel-Aviv:
October 14-15, 2005

The Cameri Theatre, Tel-Aviv:
November 19-21, 2005
December 4-6, 2005
January 1-3, 2006

Feb. 14, 2006: Yagur, Israel.
Feb. 15, 2006: Naharia, Israel.
Feb. 27, 2006: Karmiel, Israel
Mar. 12, 2006: Beer-Sheba, Isarel
Mar. 22, 2006: Tel-Aviv, 2 performances
Apr. 13, 2006: Hatzafon Theatre, Haifa
Apr. 22, 2006: Petach-Tikva
Apr. 24, 2006: Jerusalem Theatre, 2 performances
Apr. 25, 2006: Ashkelon
Apr. 29, 2006: Haifa Theatre
May 8, 2006: Warsaw, Poland
May 28, 2006: Tel-Aviv
Jun. 15, 2006: Haifa Theatre
Sep. 13, 2006: The Cameri Theatre, Tel-Aviv.
Nov. 13, 2006: The Cameri Theatre, Tel-Aviv.
Dec. 3, 2006: The Cameri Theatre, Tel-Aviv.
May 2007 - South Africa Tour.