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
Subtitled version of video posted in July 2021, here:
https://tinyurl.com/SIMAsubtitled.
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Photos by N.S. Lehrman from 1976 performances--
dir.: Glen Becker, cond.: Leonard Lehrman.
Watch the complete video of the 1976 production here,
or scene by scene:
Overture (& Opening Credits)
Act I Scene 1 The Streetcar
Act I Scene 2 Part 1 Arriving at the Orphanage
Act I Scene 2 Part 2 Ensemble
Act I Scene 2 Part 3 Departing the Orphanage
Act I Scene 3 The Carriage
Act I Scene 4 Manya's Letter Aria Mad Scene
Act I Scene 5 Coming Home
Entr'acte
Act II Scenes 1 & 2 Telephoning, Bathing
Act II Scene 3 Retiring
Act II Scene 4 Resolution
Act II Scene 5 Nightmares (Finale - & Closing Credits)
Audio 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.
Other excerpts posted on YouTube:
Lyuba's Aria introduced by the composer,
sung by Allison Mills 7/28/12
sung by Hannah Spierman 12/2/12;
Manya's Lullaby sung by Helene Williams
7/28/12, 11/15/12, 12/01/14, 6/21/15
and in Russian translation
by Emily Lehrman & Dina Jitomirskaia
5/30/16, 6/11/16 in Minsk and 6/16/17 in Vitebsk;
by Galit Dadoun 3/30/14 and 11/09/14
and by Ute Gabriel, in German, 4/30/84.
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 Isaevitch 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 Letter Aria Mad Scene (Act I Scene 4) won a 1977
National Federation of Music Clubs American Music Award.)