Alex Weiser: State of the Jews

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For his Commission at Roulette, composer Alex Weiser presents an evening of songs culminating in a work-in-progress performance of the complete first act of his opera-in-progress, State of the Jews, with librettist Ben Kaplan. State of the Jews follows Theodor Herzl in the last year of his life, as his efforts to secure a Jewish homeland become increasingly desperate. It includes scenes from the Sixth Zionist congress, in which Herzl proposes Uganda as a possible land for Jewish settlement, and Herzl’s visit with Pope Pius X, in which he seeks the Pope’s support for a Jewish State. Interwoven with this public historical narrative is the more intimate story of Theodor’s conflicted relationship with his wife, Julie Herzl, and the toll his political views and activities took on their family life.