PUSH (opera)
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PUSH is an English-language opera in one act, with libretto and music by Howard Moody.
The opera is based on events during the Holocaust in Belgium, specifically the story of Simon Gronowski's escape from a Holocaust train on April 19, 1943.[1]
Gronowski escaped from the convoy in the aftermath of an attack from three Belgian resistance members. The title is a reference to the central event of the opera, Simon being pushed off the convoy by his mother, who died three days later at Auchwitz. His sister also died at Auchwitz.[2]
The opera was created after Gronowski met Howard Moody at La Monnaine in Brussels.[3] Gronowski had been attending one of Moody's operas before they met. Gronowski said about this event: "When I told him my life had only been miracles, he wrote it down there and then and told me his next opera would be about me".[4]
