Baruchs Schweigen (2009)
(Chamber Opera)

This opera was inspired by the life story of the composer Ella Milch-Sheriff and is based on her father's diary entries from 1943.

Following the instructions in her father's will, a daughter returns to her parental home.  This is the first time she learns about the dark and cruel history of her father, who rarely spoke about his past. The daughter hears about a brother she never knew existed, about the deceased members of her father's family and about the ghosts who have accompanied her throughout her life and whose existence she has always been able to sense, but whose stories she does not know. These discoveries shed new light on her dark childhood. They give her the opportunity to find a new path in a lasting relationship with her dead father.

The opera lasts only 1 1/2 hours. This time, however, is of a sometimes breathless intensity that captivates the audience without interruption

Milch-Sheriff's musical language is always very vivid...The text, which many modern composers perform in a trivial recitative form, is integrated into her original, melodic compositional style, which also makes the piece attractive for the singers