My favorite quotation is from Murray Sidlin's interview with pianist and Terezin survivor, Edith Steiner-Kraus. Mr. Sidlin asked her to describe the quality of the chorus, as it pertained to the Verdi.
When I asked her this question, she gave me this sly, suspicious look out of the corners of her eyes and she said, “When you ask me a question about all those musicianly things, you are no doubt speaking about precise rhythm, intonation, balance, diction. I think you would be proud of this chorus in any urban setting. However, the superficial nature of your question troubles me terribly—as if any of that mattered. Don’t you understand? We had returned to the source of the music—we were so far inside the genesis of the music that we were at Verdi’s table. I don’t understand why people, when they talk about Terezín, mention those elements that you ask about. You’ll never understand, or get close, to what music truly meant to each of us as a sustaining power and as a way of using our skills to inspire—beyond criticism—beyond any superficial evaluation—we were music.”
Hallelujah!!
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