{"id":54947,"date":"2025-02-11T10:45:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T08:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=54947"},"modified":"2025-02-11T10:46:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T08:46:36","slug":"israeli-opera-theodor-returns-to-the-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=54947","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Opera: Theodor Returns to the Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Theodor\/Photo by Yossi Zwecker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Theodor<\/em> returns to the stage of the Israeli Opera for four performances \u2013 March 2 \u2013 7, 2025!<\/p>\n

Theodor<\/em>\u00a0is a contemporary masterpiece, inspired by the life and work of Theodor Herzl, visionary of the State of Israel. Composed by Yonatan Cnaan and librettist and director Ido Ricklin, the opera merges music, drama, and brilliant artistry to create a fascinating character study. A production of the Israeli opera,\u00a0Theodor<\/em> premiered in May 2023, and was received with thunderous enthusiasm \u2013 the kind of wild clapping, foot-stomping, and raucous shouting usually reserved for rock concerts. Chosen by Opera Now as one of the 7 best operas of 2023<\/a>, Theodor now returns to the stage of the Israeli Opera, conducted by Nimrod David Pfeffer.<\/p>\n

Telling an epic story from a very intimate perspective, the opera focuses on Theodor Herzl before he wrote\u00a0The State of the Jews<\/em>. Two narratives intertwine onstage: Theodor in Vienna of 1881 when he was a young law student, as portrayed by Adi Ezra, and the older Herzl, a journalist covering the Dreyfus trial in Paris in 1895, as portrayed by Oded Reich. The music is stirring as the opera opens with an angry crowd pushing at the gates, crying \u201cDeath to Dreyfus\u201d as Herzl (Oded Reich) observes, notebook in hand, fearful and tense. At home with his wife Julie (Anat Czarny) and their children, he is cold and distant, intent on his task, \u201cnot now, I\u2019m writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lifting and lightening the mood, the scene shifts to Vienna of 1881, as young Theodor (Adi Ezra) and his friend Paul von Portheim (Shaked Strul) join Albia, a nationalistic pro-German fraternity, to the tune of a catchy drinking song. There is a joyful innocence to the young Theodor, marked by a strong wish to fit in, to be accepted and respected by his peers. Anyone who has been a teenager knows that those feelings often lead to some terrible choices.<\/p>\n

The emotional force of the opera is overwhelming, as one follows the experiences of Herzl as an individual, rather than a legend, revealed in his vulnerabilities, doubts, callousness, fears, and desires. The Herzl one encounters in the opera is a seeker, an individual struggling with his sense of identity, trying to understand the world around him and his place in the world, wanting to make his mark, and wanting to belong. Oded Reich conveys Herzl\u2019s inner turmoil with a power and intensity that could be felt all the way to the upper balcony during the opera\u2019s live performances.<\/p>\n

Anat Czarny brings a strength, intelligence, and dignity to her performance as Julie Naschauer, Herzl\u2019s wife. Her family\u2019s wealth supported Herzl\u2019s pursuit of his visions, even as the marriage was unhappy, and Julie did not share Herzl\u2019s vision for a Jewish state. History traditionally has obscured Julie\u2019s place in Herzl\u2019s narrative, but Cnaan and Ricklin\u2019s opera makes a space for her, giving her a voice. Yet there is no attempt to alter her known opinions or soften her criticism of Herzl\u2019s ideas. The characters in the opera are depicted in all their weakness and contradictions. Shaked Strul is poignant as young Theodor\u2019s friend Paul von Portheim, so insecure and seeking external validation which time and again he fails to receive.<\/p>\n

In its emphasis on character and feeling, there is a timeless quality to the opera, its moment in history resonating with contemporary audiences. When, in the first scenes, the older Herzl (Reich) calls on the audience to watch the streets instead of coming to the opera, I felt his words awaken my own inner thoughts and conflicts. Seeing and hearing Herzl\u2019s vision brought to life onstage, heightens the awareness of the current reality and events. As Oded Reich sang: \u201cEvery man will be as free and undisturbed in his faith or his disbelief as he is in his nationality. And if it should occur that men of other creeds and different nationalities come to live amongst us, we should accord them honorable protection and equality before the law,\u201d* the quote from Herzl\u2019s\u00a0The State of the Jews<\/em>\u00a0elicited spontaneous applause from the audience (in the performance I attended).\u00a0Theodor<\/em>\u00a0is a timely reminder of Herzl\u2019s vision, a work of music and theatre of astonishing beauty, exhilarating and inspiring.<\/p>\n

Performances:<\/p>\n

Sunday, March 2nd at 20:00; Monday, March 3rd at 20:00; Wednesday, March 5th at 18:00; Friday, March 7th at 13:00.<\/p>\n

Additional information and tickets may be found on the Israeli Opera website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*Quote from Goodreads translation of Herzl’s Der Judenstaat<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theodor returns to the stage of the Israeli Opera for four performances \u2013 March 2 \u2013 7, 2025! Theodor\u00a0is a contemporary masterpiece, inspired by the life and work of Theodor Herzl, visionary of the State of Israel. Composed by Yonatan Cnaan and librettist and director Ido Ricklin, the opera merges music, drama, and brilliant artistry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[138,109,304],"class_list":["post-54947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-theater","tag-israeli-opera","tag-opera","tag-theodor-herzl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}