"Shulamit"

OPERA: “Shulamit,” Opera Based On The Song of Songs, Returns (Caroline Lagnado, The Jewish Week)

Operas set in ancient times are rare, but Russian-Israeli musician Dina Pruzhansky has created “Shulamit,” whose story is based on the Song of Songs.

Taking place in ancient Jerusalem during the reign of King Solomon, Pruzhansky’s piece began as a song cycle that was commissioned by the Bacchanalia String Quartet and premiered at Bargemusic in 2013. The first iteration starred Israeli mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani.

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The opera will be presented in Hebrew with English supertitles. “I was completely captivated by the original Hebrew text and the beauty of this poetry,” remarked Pruzhansky. “I found the original Hebrew verse to be the most inspiring source for my music, both in terms of the rich imagery and layers of meaning that vividly come across only in the original Hebrew texts, and in terms of it's superb play on words and sounds. Only when you read the original Hebrew verse, you start to realize why it's called The Song of Songs -- it definitely was created by the poet of poets. I also wanted to show a wider audience what the original Biblical language sounds like.”

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The video below has excerpts: