OUR WORKS
REVIEWS OF PRODUCTIONS BY HAAKON AND MARTHA SMITH
Reviews of the Holocaust Memorial Concerts and Voices of the Holocaust:
St. Etienne France: The monologues were followed by songs magnificently interpreted by Martha Smith. . . It was an unforgettable evening. . . virtuosity and emotion were in unity . . . As the words of Elie Wiesel’s Cry ended, so we must “remember them, remember them. La Lozère Nouvelle, France.
Tallinn, Estonia: The performers were highly qualified professionals. The voice of Martha Smith, the soloist and soul of the presentation, touched the hearts of everybody in the auditorium. Her message was convincing and moving. Peter Vosu, Politician and Director of ICEJ, Estonia.
Riga, Latvia: The music of the concert was beautifully performed – from the soprano soloist to the pianist, violinist, and cellist. The vignettes relating the stories . . . were poignantly related by the narrator. The performance was heart-touching and transforming. It was the highlight of the entire week of concerts and brought to reality the horrors and suffering of the Jewish people during the years of the Holocaust. . It was an unforgettable evening which people in Riga have continued to speak about long after the event. Rabbi Menachem Bar-Kahan, Director, Shamir religious community, Riga, Latvia.
Helsinki, Finland: In a concert at the Cultural Center in Helsinki starred well-known Finnish musicians such as pianist and singer Hiller Tokazier and wind instrument virtuoso Juhani Aaltonen. Soprano, Martha Smith, born in the United States and pianist Haakon Smith, from Norway had the lead role in presenting the memories of the Holocaust through dramatic reading and lavishly expressive classical singing, all based on experiences of Jewish persecution and war. Furthermore, a string ensemble performed, executing selected folk and classical pieces from a Jewish context. The concert was reinforced by the dance group, ‘Xaris', three women strong. The concert was conducted with dignity and seriously considered the genocide of six million Jews. It emphasized that many of the survivors found their life's purpose in being witnesses and carriers of the memory of those who were brutally murdered. Meanwhile, the concert projected into the future of the Jewish people and once again showed the promise of the resurrection of Erez Israel, the land of Israel. The terrible devastation 60 years ago became the definitive spark and the proof of the need for a homeland. Ny Veg Magazine, Helsinki, Finland.
Malmø, Sweden: I would like to thank you once more for your wonderful performance in the Malmö Synagogue. It was very heartfelt song and music. Lev Sudit, Malmø Synagogue
The power of Martha Smith’s voice as well as Haakon Smith’s piano performance came from their commitment to the remembrance of Jewish suffering. . . It was a powerful experience as proven by the standing ovations, the people’s faces and comments afterward. President, Malmø Synagogue
BEETHOVEN’S FIDELIO: A HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL OPERA.
“I've been meaning to write to you . . . just to say how much I admired and enjoyed and was stirred by Fidelio. Although it's one of my desert-island operas, it (or rather performances of it) often feels a let-down, but this was one of the most gripping I've seen. Thanks again and all Best wishes, John – Personal note from John Allison, editor in chief, Opera UK Magazine.
REVIEW FROM “FIDELIO: HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL OPERA”, Opera UK.
The ‘Holocaust Memorial Production’ of Fidelio . . . toured five Polish cities (Wrocław, Lubłin, Warsaw, Łódź, and Kraków. Directed by Julia Pevzner after a concept by Martha Smith and Haakon Smith, this searing performance juxtaposed Beethoven’s music (sung in German) with the brief reminiscences (in Polish) of a now elderly Leonore, wheelchair-bound in ., . . Jerusalem. . explaining to her grandson the background to the family portraits and papers around them. . . Leonore’s fearless journey back from London to Poland to rescue her husband, a leader in the Polish underground resistance in World War II.
Little of this would have been so effective had the final performance in Kraków December 6) not simply been one of the most musically gripping I have encountered. . . It was good to hear Beethoven’s music articulated with such urgency by a well-balanced cast. In the intimacy of the jewel-box-like SLOVACKI THEATER they delivered compelling performances every one of them believable and worth hearing. In charge of the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Piotr Sułkowski conducted with exciting theatricality, ratcheting up tension on occasion with some accelerandos, and the overture was gut-wrenching in its impact: it was accompanied by flickering black-and-white films in pre-war life in Warsaw and Kraków, showing everything from trams in the streets to prams in Łazienki park, children playing there near the famous Chopin monument, and services in synagogues and churches. So well matched was the film material to the musical rhythms and pulse that I know I wasn’t the only one choking on emotions by the end of the overture. Unconventionally, but no less successfully, the last part of Leonore No. 2-beginning from the trumpet calls–was played before the start of Act 2, and the footage here included a Jewish wedding in 1930s Poland. The solo trumpet made an especially poetic impact in Kraków, a city famous for its centuries-old tradition of an hourly trumpet signal from the tower of St. Mary’s Church. . . the stage-side narration of alte Leonore . . . served to remind everyone how Poles had saved tens of thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust, making the production idealistic rather than accusatory, and thus true to Beethoven’s spirit of universal brotherhood. John Allison, Editor in Chief, Opera UK.
Reviews for “Hanna’s Treasure Box”–“La Boite aux Trésors d’Hanna”-New York, Paris
NEW YORK REVIEW: Hanna's Treasure Box nytheater.com review reviewed by Joan Kane · November 13, 2012. I saw Hanna’s Treasure Box by Martha Smith. It was beautifully performed, by Ardoine Clauzel, on a bare stage with just a coat tree, a chair and a suitcase. Through simple costume and lighting changes Ms. Clauzel inhabits the life of the young girl Hanna as she learns her identity. Hanna was a Jew in 1942 Nazi-occupied Norway.
In the course of the play we learn that Hanna’s family are fishermen and tradesmen living in a house on a tiny island off the coast of Norway. The family had come there 400 years before to escape the attacks against the Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. Over the years, they had become fully assimilated into Norwegian culture. They consider themselves Norwegians, not Jews.
One storyline involves night dreams that Hanna is having about her family fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. The family actually does flee to Sweden to escape the brutality of the Nazis. Hanna also finds a hidden old box that turns out to be the only thing the family has left from their days in Spain. It contains a prayer shawl with the Star of David and a prayer book.
Paris review: Radio Judaica of Paris broadcast: “Hanna’s Treasure Box was very moving. . .all of our history was presented by a marvellous actress. The play had great emotion and that with the actress alone on the stage. She was accompanied by Stella Gutman, with her warm voice and a tonal quality reminiscent of the Judeo-Spanish style. The play was very touching and well interpreted-quite sombre. The direction was well done. Hanna’s Treasure Box was a very beautiful play: extremely touching and memorable. Bella Lustyk and Lise Gutmann, on Radio Judaiques FM, Paris, May 2015.
New York prize-winning playwright and dramaturg: The work of a powerful, articulate writer. -- Lonnie Carter, Obie Award winning playwright.
Oslo feedback: I have read the manuscript (Hanna’s Treasure Box) and it is absolutely exciting material you have come up with. The transition between dreams and reality, together with this functioning as a warning works very well together. I also liked the transitions between narration and the direct scenes being acted out. This shows a good dynamic. Siri Løkholm Ramberg, dramaturg, Oslo New Theater