Theatre
Brundibár
Adolf Hoffmeister · 1942
Synopsis
Aninka and Pepíček, a sister and her brother, have a sick mother for whom the doctor has prescribed milk, and not a penny to buy it. In the market square, seeing passers-by pay the barrel-organ player Brundibár, they start singing in their turn; the man drives them away. A sparrow, a cat and a dog promise them their help and gather the neighbourhood children together with them.
Context
The libretto and the music were written in 1938 for a competition of the Ministry of Education, which the political situation prevented from being judged. The work was premiered in secret at the turn of 1942 and 1943 by the children of the Jewish orphanage in Belgická Street, in Prague, with a piano, a violin and a percussion, and was performed only twice, all cultural activity being then forbidden to Jews. The composer, Hans Krása, deported to Terezín in August 1942, made a new version of it, premiered at the camp on 23 September 1943.
Who it is for
An opera for children of about forty minutes, in two acts, sung by children's voices. The libretto has no separate French edition.
Prizes and reception
Performed about fifty-five times at Terezín in 1943 and 1944, filmed by Nazi propaganda in 1944, and staged today all over the world.