Sima
two-act opera by Leonard Lehrman,
after "The Krasovitsky Couple"
by David Iakovlevich Aizman (1869-1922),
story translated from the Russian
by Edgar H. Lehrman (1926-1986),
presented in concert Aug. 6, 1976, then staged
by Ithaca Opera Assn, Oct. 22 & 23, 1976
at Barnes Hall, Cornell University;
broadcast on WCIC Cable TV May, 1977;
shown at festivals in Davos, Switzerland 1981
and Moscow, 1986
German premiere May 28, 1984
by Jüdischer Musiktheaterverein Berlin
at Jüdisches Gemeindehaus, Berlin
Excerpts performed in English, French, German, and
Russian in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the US
Excerpt posted online:
Lyuba's Aria, sung by Elizabeth Parcells, Augsburg, Germany 7/21/80
Follow the text here. Parcells also sang the role in the work's European premiere, in Berlin, in May 1984.
A photograph of her in performance with Christina Preussler in the title role appears on her website.
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Photos by N.S. Lehrman from 1976 performances--
dir.: Glen Becker, cond.: Leonard Lehrman.
Orphaned by a 1903 pogrom in the Ukraine,
the child Sima (Julie Gibbons)
mistakenly thinks she sees her mother in
Regina Krasovitskaya (Carol Skinner),
a bored Jewish housewife visiting the orphanage with her
husband,the factory-owner Yakov Krasovitsky (Paul Gibbons).
The couple decide to adopt the girl, despite the misgivings of
the orphanage supervisor, Lyuba Borisovna (Yvonne Parkes).
[Seated among the children in the chorus is the future composer
and Russian translator, Geoffrey Carlson.]
Eventually the child ends up with the Ukrainian maid, Manya (Joanne Ball),
who has lost her own child.
(Manya's Mad Scene (Act I Scene 4)
won a 1977 National Federation of Music Clubs American Music Award.)