Israeli Opera seeks a place for hope, somewhere
There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us, somewhere.
The Steven Sondheim lyrics from “Somewhere” were heartbreaking when Maria sang them as Tony died in her arms in the original Broadway production of “West Side Story.”
They are no less heartbreaking now, 66 years later.
The Israeli Opera has just released a video, filmed in November, of “Somewhere,” sung in a mixture of English, Hebrew, and Arabic.
The video features 60 Arab and Jewish performers, including members of the opera company as well as musicians and singers from the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music.
David Sebba, the Israeli Opera’s conductor, orchestrated, arranged, and translated the song into Hebrew. The Arabic translation was by Rina Miari, a recent graduate of the Jerusalem Academy.
Zach Granit, the opera’s CEO, described the performance as “another layer in a vast array of activities in which the opera promotes and maintains meetings and an artistic and educational dialogue between Jewish and Arab musicians and audiences.
“At this time, it is important for us to sound a voice of hope and faith in a better future for life together and joint creation,” he said.
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