Béla Bátori

Shulamith was written in 1883 by the father of modern Yiddish theatre, Abraham Goldfaden. The opera, based on an ancient legend, tells the story of Shulamith, a girl who is trapped in a well in the desert and falls in love with her rescuer. Although they vow to be faithful he marries someone else, but years later are reunited. Shulamith was the opening performance at the Hebrew Dramatic Club in Princes Street in 1886 and ever-popular with the crowds, it returned to the Yiddish stage in London a number of times in the 1910s and 20s. The well-loved lullaby Raisins and Almonds was written by Goldfaden for the opera.