David Chevan

Letters from the Affair is a multi-media work that crosses the boundaries between jazz, opera and musical theater (It also has a great deal of art history in it).  Letters from the Affair tells a true but little-known story about the Dreyfus Affair and how it ended the friendship between the artists Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro.  The work traces the relationship of the two artists from before the first impressionist exhibition until Pissarro’s death in 1903.  All of lyrics to the songs in this work are taken directly from letters written by these two artists.

The piece  illustrates how Degas’ anti-Semitism was at the core of the break of their friendship while also showing how Pissarro, who was Jewish, had to face anti-Semitism on a daily basis during the peak of the Dreyfus affair.  

Dear David,

Your piece is wonderful. The music is evocative and beautiful. The tessatura bodes well for the singers, who did beautifully. Finally, the orchestration was just right.

Bravo!!

Jackie 

Cantor Jacob Mendelson (retired) cantorial teacher at Hebrew Union College and The Jewish Theological Seminary