Darius Milhaud’s Opera 'Esther de Carpentras'

Lecture & Concert Produced by the American Society for Jewish Music’s Jewish Music Forum Co-sponsored by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Admission: Free Registration is required. Register

Esther de Carpentras is an opera-bouffe in two acts composed by Darius Milhaud and based on a text by Armand Lunel. It premiered in 1938 at the Paris Opéra Comique, just two years prior to Milhaud’s escape to the United States. Both the music and libretto reference the literary and theatrical interpretations of the biblical Esther story and integrate the Jewish heritage of Milhaud and Lunel with that of the papal domains of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin (13th to 18th centuries) in southern France. Traditional readings of the Esther stories and the accompanying theatrical performances took place during the festival of Purim in the carrières (Jewish ghettos) of the cities of Avignon, Cavaillon, Carpentras, and L’isle-sur-Sorgue. In the synagogues, the biblical text was read in Hebrew, understood exclusively by the community’s men, while the literary, musical, and theatrical performances were staged in colloquial Judéo-Provençal, thus accessible also to the community’s women and children. Similar musical and theatrical performances existed in other Jewish (Ashkenazi and Sephardic) and Christian communities of Europe, a heritage that shaped both the composer’s and librettist’s vision.

This performance will feature excerpts from the opera, a video animation interpreting the work, as well as short lectures.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.