For a Look or a Touch

Jun 1, 2021 - Jun 30, 2021

This June, Music of Remembrance (MOR) will stream a special all-new production of For a Look or a Touch by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. The concert was originally scheduled for live performances at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall and San Francisco’s Presidio Theatre. Because of continuing pandemic restrictions, MOR has instead created a compelling video production and will make it available around the world on its streaming platform. Details on ticketing information will be announced soon.

For a Look or a Touch was the first and remains the only major musical work to address the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. It tells the story of two idealistic young men whose lives and love were torn apart during the Third Reich. This new production, directed by Erich Parce, features rising star baritone Jarrett Ott as Manfred Lewin and the amazing musical actor Curt Branom as Gad Beck. The work takes its title from a provision in the German penal code that made even an affectionate glance or caress a reason for suspicion and arrest. MOR commissioned and premiered For a Look or a Touch in 2007, and since then the work has traveled the world. This production, especially resonant in June during Pride Month, brings it back in an expanded version.

For a Look or a Touch (2007)

Music by Jake Heggie

Libretto by Gene Scheer

Commissioned by Music of Remembrance

Manfred Lewin - Jarrett Ott, baritone

Gad Beck - Curt Branom, actor

Zart Dombourian-Eby, flute; Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Mikhail Shmidt, violin; Walter Gray, cello; Jessica Choe, piano

Erich Parce, director

Joseph Mechavich, conductor