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Juilliard Press Release
Recovering A Musical Heritage:
To Feature Works by Composers Silenced by the Holocaust Sunday, March 23 at Central Synagogue, The Emperor of Atlantis (Der Kaiser von Atlantis) Chamber and Vocal Music by Ullmann, Alexander Zemlinsky, Orchestral Works by Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Béla Bartók and Zemlinsky Free Lecture on The Emperor of Atlantis by Mark Ludwig,
For these three March concerts Mr. Conlon has chosen to focus on the music of Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944), as a symbol of the most prolific of the composers interned at the so-called "model" concentration camp at Terezn (Theresienstadt), where the Nazis set up an extensive arts program for propaganda purposes, and where half of the works to be heard on these programs were written. In addition, Ullmann embodied the strength of the human spirit and the triumph of artistic perseverance over the most unimaginable conditions. As the composer wrote: "It must be emphasized that Theresienstadt has served to enhance, not impede, my musical activities...and that our endeavor with respect to the arts was commensurate with our will to live." The March programs also will include works by two of Ullmann’s fellow Terezn inmates-- Czech composers Pavel Haas and Hans Krása, both of whom perished together with Ullmann on the same day in Auschwitz, and by Ullmann and Krása’s mentor, Alexander Zemlinsky, who left Europe in 1938. He emigrated to New York where he lived on the West side, but was unable to restart his career, and died in obscurity in 1942. The last composer to be represented is Béla Bartók, who also was uprooted for political reasons and produced his final masterpieces after arriving in the United States. Free Lecture - "A Search for the Meaning Amidst the Holocaust: To introduce the concert series, a lecture will be given by Holocaust Music scholar Mark Ludwig, Director and founder of the Terezn Chamber Music Foundation. This non-profit organization is dedicated to assuring the permanence of the music written by composers who perished in the Holocaust, and to ensuring their appreciation by people of all beliefs through concerts, recordings, research and educational programs. There is no admission charge for this lecture; information is available at 212 378-0222. Viktor Ullmann's Opera, The Emperor of Atlantis James Conlon will conduct this one-act opera, performed by the Juilliard Orchestra and students from the Juilliard Vocal Arts program in a semi-staged production directed by Edward Berkeley, director of undergraduate opera studies at Juilliard. Written in Terezn in 1943, The Emperor of Atlantis is an operatic parody of Hitler and life under the Nazis. With a libretto by Peter Kien, the opera’s basic premise is that life and death have lost their ordinary meanings. A tyrannical king has declared a brutal, universal war, but Death himself is so revolted by the senseless slaughter, he virtually goes on strike and refuses to allow either the wounded soldiers or civilian victims to die. Eventually, the ruler is forced to end the stalemate by accepting his own death. The score illustrates Ullmann’s mature musical style, with rich textures, idiomatic vocal writing, and echoes of Schoenberg and Kurt Weill, all combined with incisive theatrical effect. The Emperor of Atlantis was rehearsed in Terezn but never performed there, as the censors forbade its production presumeably due to the obvious allegorical references. The opera finally was premiered in Amsterdam in 1975. Tickets for this performance are $27, and may be obtained by calling the Box Office at the 92nd Street Y, which is handling the tickets, at 212 415-5500. Vocal and Chamber Music by Ullmann, Krása To open this program, Mr. Conlon will conduct Alexander Zemlinsky’s rarely-heard fragment, Maiblumen blhten berall (Mayflowers are blooming everywhere), for voice and string sextet. A pivotal figure in a time of musical ferment, Zemlinsky had links to Brahms and Mahler, taught Schoenberg, Berg and Webern, and championed the music of Janáček, Stravinsky, Hindemith and Weill. The concert will continue with two works by Hans Krása: the String Quartet, written at the age of 22, and Passacaglia and Fugue for String Trio, his final work written in Terezn a few months before his death. This piece displays the lyricism, formal assurance and dense polyphony that mark the composer’s mature style. Krása, who is perhaps best known for his children’s opera, Brundibár, enjoyed considerable early success and, ironically, turned down a conducting offer in Chicago that might have saved his life. Two works by Viktor Ullmann conclude the March 24 program: Six Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, written to texts by Albert Steffen in 1937, and the String Quartet No. 3 which, like The Emperor of Atlantis, is one of his most significant Terezn compositions. Participating artists are mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, soprano Amy Burton, the Hawthorne String Quartet, and students from The Juilliard School. This concert is being presented by the Center for Religious Inquiry, an interreligious adult education program at St. Bartholomew’s Church. Tickets for this concert are $20, or $15 for students and seniors with ID. The box office is in the Park Avenue lobby of the Church and is open 8:30 am to 6 pm daily. For information, call 212 378-0222. Orchestral Works by Ullmann, Haas, Bartók and Zemlinsky For the final concert in this series, James Conlon will conduct the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. The program will open with a performance of Ullmann’s Symphony No. 2, which the composer was working on when he was transported to Auschwitz. One of two such works left by the composer as piano scores with marginal notes, they can be performed as piano sonatas (Nos. 5 and 7, respectively), or in their completed performing version by German composer Bernhard Wulff. The program will continue with Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3, with Andreas Haefliger as soloist. This concerto, one of the composer’s two final major works, was written during the summer of 1945 at Saranac Lake, where Bartók, a political refugee, had gone for the sake of his failing health. It shows the enduring inspiration of both folk idioms and nature in his music. The concert will also include the Study for Strings by Czech composer Pavel Haas, written for the orchestrea in Terezn and conducted by Karl Ančerl in 1943 during a visit by the Red Cross one month before the composer’s death. Haas was a student of Janáček, and the influence of his teacher’s methods and irregular rhythms, together with that of Moravian folksongs, Jewish chant, medieval chorale, and even jazz, can be heard in his music. The program’s closing work will be the Sinfonietta, Op. 23 of Zemlinsky, which was first performed in New York in 1940 at Carnegie Hall, with Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting the New York Philharmonic. It was the only performance of any Zemlinsky work while he lived in America. Zemlinsky was too ill to attend. Tickets for this concert -- part of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s annual Carnegie Hall series -- priced at $23, $27, $36, $44, $67, and $74 are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, by calling Carnegie Charge at 212 247-7800, or online at www.carnegiehall.org. Nazi Persecution of Composers As a result of the systematic suppression of all Jewish artists, writers and musicians by Nazi Germany, two generations of Jewish composers were silenced, their music destined to be forgotten. Other Central European composers had their works banned for their modernist, leftist or "non-Aryan" influences. After decades of painstaking work, many of these compositions have now been uncovered and published, allowing composers, performers, listeners and scholars to re-forge links in the chain of 20th-century musical history. These works reveal the fascinating stylistic pluralism that marked the first half of the 20th century, when in addition to Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, and the giants of the Second Viennese School, the collective voice of Jewish composers from Berlin to Budapest, Prague to Vienna, enriched the musical dialogue. It was to the concentration camp at Terezn, established near Prague in 1941, that many artistically gifted Jews were sent before their eventual extermination elsewhere. Musical and dramatic activities flourished there, with countless performances of both classics and new works by numerous vocal and instrumental ensembles. Despite the atmosphere of grim foreboding that permeated the camp, Terezn echoed the rich cultural life that had been destroyed: its composers had studied with some of the major figures of the century, its performers were accomplished, its audiences sophisticated. Viktor Ullmann Born in Teschen (now the Czech Republic) in 1898, Viktor Ullmann studied with Schoenberg and came to musical maturity under Zemlinsky’s guidance. He enjoyed considerable success as both a conductor and a composer before being deported in 1942 to Terezn, where he was active as a conductor, pianist and critic, and served as an important organizer of musical activities and director of the Studio for New Music. He simultaneously composed some twenty vocal and instrumental works, among them some of his major compositions. Fortunately, he arranged safekeeping for many of his manuscripts. Ullmann and the composers Hans Krása and Pavel Haas were all interned at Terezn; all three were transported from the camp on the same day in October 1944, and were exterminated two days later at Auschwitz. James Conlon In March 2003, Capriccio Records will release James Conlon’s new disc of music by Viktor Ullmann with the Grzenich Orchestra-Cologne Philharmonic, as well as a DVD including a documentary and discussion of Viktor Ullmann’s music. The recording includes the Symphonies Nos.1 and 2, the Six Songs, Op.17 being performed on the March 24 concert, and an overture. An ardent champion of Zemlinsky’s music, Mr. Conlon has made nine prize-winning recordings for EMI with the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra of that composer’s major works, including the world-premiere recording of Maiblumen, which is being performed on the March 24 program, and the Sinfonietta to be heard on March 26. The entire series earned the 2002 ECHO Classic Award for "Editorial Achievement of the Year." In 1999, he was awarded the Zemlinsky Prize for his efforts in bringing the composer’s music to international attention. Mr. Conlon’s extensive discography of more than forty recordings for the EMI, Erato, Capriccio and Sony Classical labels covers a wide repertoire, and includes numerous rarely-heard or previously unrecorded works. His EMI recordings include music of Stravinsky with the Paris Opera Orchestra and twenty discs with the Cologne Philharmonic of works by Bruch, Mahler, and Mendelssohn, as well as less frequently-heard music of Franz Schreker and Karl Goldmark. In November, Capriccio released his disc with the Cologne Philharmonic of two symphonies and the Violin Concerto by Karl Amadeus Hartmann, a dissident who spent most of the Nazi era underground. Born in New York and trained at Juillard, Mr. Conlon has conducted a broad range of the operatic, symphonic and choral literature in virtually every music capital in the United States, Europe and Japan. He has spent most of the last two decades in Europe: since 1995 he has been Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera, where he has led 29 works, most of them new productions, and numerous symphonic concerts. He also served for thirteen years, until 2002, as General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany, holding the posts of Principal Conductor of the Grzenich Orchestra-Cologne Philharmonic and, for seven years, Chief Conductor of the Cologne Opera. During his tenure there, Mr. Conlon conducted 34 operas and virtually all the major works of Beethoven, Berg, Mahler, Wagner and Zemlinsky. He has been a guest conductor with the major orchestras of Europe and North America, and has also conducted many of the world’s leading opera companies, including La Scala, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera, where he has led over 200 performances, including six performances of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites this winter. In September 2002, James Conlon received France’s highest distinction - the Légion d’Honneur - from the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac. In the United States this season, Mr. Conlon appears as a guest conductor with the Boston Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra, and returns to the Cincinnati May Festival as Music Director for the 24th consecutive year. This summer, he leads the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, and makes his annual appearances at Aspen and at Tanglewood, where he leads both the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestras. Participating Artists Edward Berkeley is director of undergraduate opera studies at Juilliard and artistic director of the Willow Cabin Theater Company where, among his numerous productions he directed Charlotte Delbo's holocaust memoir Who Will Carry the Word?, earning his second Dramalogue's Director of the Year award. As director of the Aspen Music Festival’s Aspen Opera Theater Center, he has directed many standard and new operas by Bright Sheng, Augusta Read Thomas, Michael Torke, Mark-Anthony Turnage, HK Gruber, the world premiere of Bernard Rands' Belladonna, and others. A faculty member of Circle in the Square Professional Workshop, and guest consultant in acting for the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Berkeley’s NYC directing credits include premieres by Israel Horovitz, Terence McNally, Leonard Melfi, Morris Panych, Louise Page, and Tennessee Williams; and New York Shakespeare Festival and BAM’s Next Wave Festival. He has directed for Houston Grand Opera, the Library of Congress, Williamstown Theater Festival, Long Beach Opera, and Juilliard among others, and recently directed Dialogues des Carmélites, conducted by James Conlon at Aspen. This year he directs Beatrice and Benedict for the New York Philharmonic conducted by Sir Colin Davis, El Nio for the Atlanta Symphony with Robert Spano, and Don Giovanni and Love X 3 for Juilliard. The Hawthorne String Quartet, which is composed of four members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra-- Ronan Lefkowitz and Si-Jing Huang, violins; Mark Ludwig, viola; and Sato Knudson, cello, has performed extensively in Europe, South America, Japan and the United States, with appearances at leading music festivals including Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen. With a repertoire ranging from 18th-century classics to contemporary music, they also have been internationally hailed for championing the works of composers persecuted by the Nazi regime, and for their recordings of this music. The Quartet has performed in Terezn and Prague at the invitation of President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. The Hawthorne Quartet’s violist, Mark Ludwig, is Director and founder of the Terezn Chamber Music Foundation. He has performed and lectured worldwide on music from the Holocaust, served as a consultant for cultural organizations and orchestras, and produced and performed on recordings of this special repertoire. Committed to the education of both children and adults in the area of cultural tolerance, he has developed programs of concerts and lectures that are used in schools to explore the issues of human rights and artistic freedom. Hailed equally for her musical and dramatic gifts, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer regularly appears with leading conductors in the world’s prestigious opera houses, festivals and concert halls, including La Scala, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Paris Opera, and all the major American opera companies. A versatile artist who specializes in the works of Mozart, Berlioz, Massenet, Richard Strauss and Mahler, along with the bel canto repertoire, she is also a respected recitalist and concert artist, with a special interest in chamber music. This spring in New York, Ms. Mentzer returns to the Metropolitan Opera and appears with the New York Philharmonic. A Juilliard graduate, her discography ranges from Mozart and Donizetti to a recording of music by outstanding women composers and rarely-heard Haydn operas. A lyric soprano known for her electric stage presence, musical intelligence and crystalline sound, Amy Burton enjoys a busy career in opera and on concert stages in the U.S. and abroad. Her flair for acting and keen comedic sense has won her strong praise from critics. Ms. Burton has performed many starring roles with New York City Opera, including recently playing her first Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. This season, she also sang the New York premiere of John Harbison's Four Psalms at Carnegie Hall and performed her first Mimi in La Bohème with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She starred in Yvonne Printemps - A French Diva Unveiled, a new one-woman show about the legendary French operetta star and actress, and recorded the show's music for Harbinger Records, due out later this year. In 2003, Ms. Burton appears with the Austin Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Choral Arts Society (Washington, D.C.), Michigan Opera Theatre, Glimmerglass Opera, and in New York Festival of Song's Fifteenth Anniversary Concert. She has recorded for Angel/EMI, Albany Records and CRI. The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, one of America’s foremost and most versatile chamber orchestras, has been hailed for its mastery of a diverse repertoire spanning the Baroque to the contemporary. First organized in 1979 at the Caramoor International Music Festival, to which it returns every summer, the Orchestra is in its second season under Donald Runnicles as Principal Conductor. Each season, Carnegie Hall presents the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in a subscription series and in addition, the ensemble participates throughout the year in artistic collaborations, special projects, and recordings. Recent collaborations include official concerts commemorating the events of September 11, and the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop with André Previn. Members of the Orchestra also participate in St. Luke’s Arts Education Program, which reaches more than 12,000 New York City school children annually. St. Luke’s discography of over 70 recordings on the Sony, EMI, Nonesuch, BMG, Telarc and Arabesque labels includes two Grammy-award winning releases for Nonesuch: John Adams’ Nixon in China and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Dawn Upshaw. Pianist Andreas Haefliger has been praised for his poised, elegant interpretations as a soloist with leading orchestras in Europe and North America, among them the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and San Francisco. He is also a frequent recitalist in major music capitals from New York to Vienna, and has collaborated in chamber music concerts with the Takacs String Quartet and other ensembles, as well as with baritone Matthias Goerne and his father, renowned tenor Ernst Haefliger. Festival engagements have included Aspen, the Hollywood Bowl, the London Proms, Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Salzburg. An alumnus of The Juilliard School, Mr. Haefliger has recorded for Decca and Sony Classical. The Juilliard School is celebrating its ninety-seventh season, setting this country's standard for education in the arts. First called the Institute of Musical Arts, in 1946 the name Juilliard School of Music became official. Dance was added in 1951, and Drama in 1968, the same year Juilliard moved to Lincoln Center as an original constituent. In 2001, Juilliard added an advanced Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies, joined in 2003 by the school’s first undergraduate jazz degree-program. Opera has been performed at Juilliard since its earliest years, but in 1945 its status was elevated to encompass the school’s first opera performance ensemble. Called the Juilliard Opera Center, it is part of Juilliard’s active Vocal Arts program, whose alumni include Lauren Flanagan, Reneé Fleming, Barbara Hendricks, Hei-Kyung Hong, Susanne Mentzer, Leontyne Price, Risë Stevens, Tatiana Troyanos, and Shirley Verrett, among others. Juilliard’s vitality increases as its 2005 centennial approaches, with expanded curriculum, services, outreach programs, and its long-range planning and $150 million capital Campaign for Juilliard. It continues to represent the finest in performing arts education, growing and responding to a global cultural community, its student body drawn from 43 states and 46 foreign countries. Recovering a Musical Heritage: Viktor Ullmann St. Bartholomew’s Church Chapel - 109 East 50th Street at Park Avenue "A Search for the Meaning Amidst the Holocaust: Viktor Ullmann’s opera The Emperor of Atlantis" Guest Lecturer: Mark Ludwig, Director, Terezn Chamber Music Foundation Tickets: No admission charge. Information: 212 378-0222 Sunday, March 23, 2003 at 7:30 pm Central Synagogue - 652 Lexington Avenue at 55th Street James Conlon, Conductor Viktor Ullmann The Emperor of Atlantis (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Op. 49 (1943)
Tickets: $27.00. Information: 212 415-5500 (92nd St Y Box Office, which is handling these tickets) Monday, March 24, 2003 at 7:30 pm St. Bartholomew's Church Chapel - 109 East 50th Street at Park Avenue James Conlon, Conductor Alexander Zemlinsky Maiblumen blhten berall (1903-04) Tickets: $20; $15 for students and seniors with ID. Box Office in Park Avenue lobby of Church is open daily 8:30 am to 6 pm. Information: 212 378-0222 or online www.terezinmusic.org. Wednesday, March 26, 2003 at 8:00pm Carnegie Hall James Conlon, Conductor Viktor Ullmann Symphony No. 2 (1944) Pre-concert talk at 7:00pm by Carnegie Hall Artistic Advisor Ara Guzelimian on the main stage Tickets: $23, $27, $36, $44, $67, $74. Available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, by calling Carnegie Charge at 212 247-7800, or online at www.carnegiehall.org. |
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