Israeli Opera Gives Voice to Bring Hostages Home

Jerusalem, 26 October, 2023 (TPS) -- Israeli Opera singers Anat Czarny and Oded Reich are giving their voices to an appeal to bring more than 220 hostages home from Gaza.

Wednesday happened to be World Opera Day, but Czarny told the Tazpit Press Service, “We’re not celebrating, we’re mourning. And we are praying to get our children, mothers, fathers and the elderly back.”

The attack has a personal dimension for Czarny, a mezzo soprano, and Reich, a baritone. A relative and a friend of Reich were both taken hostage while Czarny has relatives who survived the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri.

Czarny explained to TPS that the opera released a video of her and Reich singing “Bring Him Back” from “Les Miserables.”

“We turned it into Bring Them Home.” The video includes pictures of kidnapped children and families.

“We sent the video to all the opera houses we know in hope of solidarity,” Czarny said.

The full video on the Israeli Opera’s YouTube channel, has been viewed more than 84,000 times since it was posted on Wednesday.