DEUTSCHE Grammophon has released the digital album of “Émigré,” a 90-minute English-language oratorio performed by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Chorus, with Yu Long wielding the baton. The physical album will be published June 28.

The oratorio, composed by Aaron Zigman, with lyrics written by Mark Campbell and Brock Walsh, had its world premiere Nov. 17, 2023 at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall in Shanghai. It will be staged at David Geffen Hall Lincoln Center in New York City on Feb. 29.

The oratorio is about two Jewish brothers, who search for refuge in Shanghai after Kristallnacht in 1938 in Germany and are confronted with love and loss. The idea for the production came from Yu, music director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, who spoke to Zigman about it at the beginning of 2020. Both of them then agreed to produce a work to commemorate this moving moment in history.

In the late 1930s, many Jews fled to Shanghai to escape the Nazis in Europe as most countries were limiting Jewish migration. The free port of Shanghai opened its doors to about 20,000 Jews despite suffering the atrocities of Japanese invaders at the same time. This act of kindness led to many Jews dubbing Shanghai “the Noah’s Ark of the Orient.”

“The Jewish and Chinese overcoming those hard times reflects the inclusion that crosses cultural borders, races and religions. Today’s world needs more understanding and inclusion,” said Yu in an earlier interview.

“The Chinese and the Jewish both faced similar types of persecution before and after the war, and that in itself always made me feel that telling this story in some way with music would be important,” said Zigman, who has written scores for films and TV shows including “The Notebook” and the “Sex and the City” franchise.

The musicians took more than three years to complete the oratorio. According to Yu, it sends a message that the “survival of a race depends on diverse communities learning to embrace a shared humanity.”

(SD-China Daily)