Overview
Synopsis
German diplomat, Walter Kretschmer, and his wife, Anna Liese Franz, are aboard a cruise liner headed to Brazil when Liese is forced to face her past; Liese is suddenly panic-stricken when she sees a passenger who resembles a former prisoner of Auschwitz where, unbeknownst to her husband, Liese served as an S.S. officer. Flashing back to Auschwitz, we watch Liese and Martha (the passenger) develop a turbulent and tense relationship in the camp. Liese, while looking back, is conflicted between her humanity and her steadfast view that she was simply serving the S.S proudly. Martha and the other women in the camp develop strong bonds of friendship, shaping Martha and leading her to remark at the end of the opera: “If one day your voices should fall silent, then we are all extinguished.”
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Context
This opera is based on a polish radio play written by Zofia Posmysz, a survivor of Auschwitz. The original libretto for the opera was written in Russian. The opera was written in 1968 by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, but the Russian censors deemed it inappropriate so it was not performed for the first time until 2010. The first performance was at the Bregenz festival in Austria for a production by David Pountney in which he had the libretto translated into seven languages, so that each character in the
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Setting: An ocean-liner heading for Brazil in the early 1960s, and flashbacks to an Auschwitz concentration camp in the 1940s.
ACT 1:
Scene 1 (An ocean-liner, 1960s):
German diplomat, Walter, and his wife, Liese, are excited to be leaving Germany for a three year post in Brazil. As they discuss how Brazil will be a positive change for them, Liese is suddenly panic-stricken by the sight of a passenger aboard their ship. This passenger resembles a prisoner from Auschwitz, Martha,
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Character Portrayals
See StageAgent members who have performed roles in Passazhirka.
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Songs
- Act 1, Scene 1: An ocean-liner, 1960s. (Liese, Walter, Steward, Martha, Overseer, Chorus.)
- Act 1, Scene 2: Auschwitz 1940s (1st S.S. Man, 2nd S.S. Man, 3rd S.S Man, Liese, Overseer, Martha, Chorus)
- Act 1, Scene 3: Auschwitz 1940s (Old woman, Yvette, Vlasta, Martha, Krystina, Bronka, Hannah, Katya, Kapo, Liese, Walter, Chorus,
- Act 2, Scene 1: Auschwitz 1940s (1st S.S. Man, Liese, Martha, Tadeusz, Katya)
- Act 2, Scene 2: Auschwitz 1940s (Tadeusz, Liese, Walter)
- Act 2, Scene 3: Auschwitz 1940s (Katya, Krystina, Hannah, Yvette, Bronka, Vlasta, Martha, Liese, Chorus
- Act 2, Scene 4: An ocean-liner 1960s (Walter, Liese, Steward, Old Passenger, Martha)
- Act 2, Scene 5: Auschwitz 1940s (1st S.S Man, Chorus, Violinist as Tadeusz)
- Epilogue: Some time in the future (Martha)
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
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