A Symphony of Remembrance: Bernstein’s ‘Kaddish’ & Pisar’s ‘A Dialogue with God’ Marks 80 Years Since Auschwitz Liberation
New York Social Diary
February 6, 2025
Leonard Bernstein’s monumental Kaddish,” Symphony No. 3 received a special performance at Carnegie Hall on January 29th with a thunderous libretto by his friend Samuel Pisar titled “A Dialogue with God.” Bernstein’s “Kaddish” first had its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic in 1963 with the original text written by Bernstein; Pisar’s “A Dialogue with God” had its world premiere with the Chicago Symphony in 2003, and over thirty times around the world before his passing in 2015.
Last week’s concert was attended by the composer’s daughters Jamie and Nina Bernstein, Jerry Seinfeld and his wife Jessica, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, twenty UN ambassadors, eminent members of the diplomatic community as well as religious and civil society leaders from over a dozen countries. The evening served as a poignant commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.