From the Diary of Anne Frank (1990) - Michael Tilson Thomas

This is Michael Tilson Thomas's gorgeous masterwork "From the Diary of Anne Frank" for narrator and orchestra. This was sketched starting in late summer of 1989 and finished in the last weeks of December of that year. The work was commissioned by UNICEF.
Michael himself stated this in the program notes:
"The work is a melodrama in the form of symphonic variations. It was written for Audrey Hepburn. Audrey had grown up in occupied Holland; she was exactly the same age as Anne Frank and identified strongly with her-and with the suffering of all children. This work was written as a vehicle for Audrey in her role as an ambassador for UNICEF. It takes its shape primarily from the diary passages that Audrey and I selected and read together. While some of the words concern tragic events, so many of them reflect the youthful, optimistic, inquisitive, and compassionate spirit of their author. Above all, we wanted these qualities to come through in the piece, and so I have derived the themes…from turns of phrases in traditional Jewish music, especially the hymn to life, Kaddish."
*Photo shown is Thomas himself conducting the San Francisco Symphony with Isabel Leonard (performing as Anne Frank), all of which are performing this recording.
COMPOSER: Michael Tilson Thomas
CONDUCTOR: Michael Tilson Thomas
NARRATOR: Isabel Leonard
ORCHESTRA: San Francisco Symphony
TRACKLIST:
0:00 - Part One
10:40 - Part Two
29:23 - Part Three
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