- Esther, tu lucia figura es komo el sol en arrelumbrar. - Ke me vale mi hermosura, yo debo siempre sospirar. - Tus ojos, oh, Esther, son komo un lucero grande. - Mas triste es mi korazón, muy triste y lágrimas espande. - Tú sufres, no entiendo por ké es esta sufrienza, te rogo, dime, oh, reina, dime, ké es tu dolor? - Yo sufro, no entiendes por ke es esta sufrienza, te rogo, siente, mi rey, oh, siente ke es mi dolor? - Ké daño grave, Esther, menaza tu chika existencia? Kual es tu voluntad, Esther, y kuala tu favor? - Un daño grave, oh, rey, menaza mi chika existencia. Sintid, oh, Maestad, sintid a mi sola favor.
– Esther, your shining figure
is like the sun in its brightness.
– Of what use is my beauty,
when I must always sigh?
– Your eyes, oh Esther,
are like a great star.
– But sad is my heart,
so sad that it sheds tears. – You suffer, I do not understand
why this suffering is.
I beg you, tell me, oh queen,
tell me, what is your pain?
– I suffer, you do not understand
why this suffering is.
I beg you, feel, my king,
oh, feel what my pain is. – What grave harm, Esther,
threatens your small existence?
What is your wish, Esther,
and what is your request?
– A grave harm, oh king,
threatens my small existence.
Feel, oh Majesty, feel,
grant your favor to me alone.
From Ventanas Altas de Saloniki, 2013. From ‘Esther’, a musical play in three acts depicting the story of Purim, which articulates the plot via various operatic genres: recitativo, arias, duets and choruses. Some of its songs became popular in Salonika, becoming part of the oral tradition. It was performed on Purim, March 27, 1932 (11 Adar 5692) in the Theater Megalo Alexandrou, by members of the Bnei Mizrahi Youth Club, of Brit Trumpeldor. This is a duet between Queen Esther and Ahashverosh king of Persia. 'Esther' was written by Shlomo Reuven and composed by Isaac (Artzi)-Sion, who born in Monastir and arrived in Salonika as a child. In 1941, when the Germans arrived in Salonika, he was taken to Auschwitz, where he had to play in the ghoulish orchestra that accompanied the marches to the crematorium until he was killed there in 1943.
This website was created by Orit Perlman with the collaboration and blessings of Dr. Susana Weich-Shahak in 2025