Letters from the Affair

Recorded on 5/21/22

A multi-media work that crosses the boundaries between jazz, opera and musical theater to tell a little-known true story about the Dreyfus Affair and how it ended the friendship between the Impressionist 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, using letters written by the artists along with multi-media projections of their paintings, images from newspapers and family photographs.  All of lyrics to the songs in this work are taken directly from letters written by these two artists.

Bassist and composer David Chevan has created a compelling work that is a mix of jazz, blues, Klezmer and Jewish cantorial music that captures the personalities of these two artists and gives the singers and the performers opportunities for creative self expression.

Cast and ensemble
Cantor Randall Schloss - Camille Pissarro
Cantor Martin Levson - Edgar Degas
Dana Astmann - Zoe, model, and accordion
Will Bartlett - clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone
David Chevan – composer and bass

 Video of one of their London performances: https://youtu.be/4Sj6gz8wVbc

Streaming Cost is $15
The link will reamain active for one week.

Donations Welcome