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​at The Deutsches Haus NYU

Music by jewish and jewish communist composers of the World War II Era

​

PRE-WWII
February 3, 2012
6:30pm

Kurt Weill
The Seven Deadly Sins (selections) - song cycle for mezzo-soprano and piano, 1933

Soprano:  Kala Maxym
Pianist:  Dr. Lloyd Arriola


 

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Drei Lieder, Op. 22
Marietta's Lied from Die tote Stadt

- for soprano and piano

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Soprano:  Jeanai La Vita
Pianist:  Dr. Lloyd Arriola

​

Kurt Weill
The Threepenny Opera 

(selections) - for voice and piano
 

Opera Ballad of Mack the Knife
 

Army (Cannon) Song
 

Ballad of the Easy Life
 

Survival Song
 

And other Kurt Weill selections
Nannas Lied (1939)
Youkali (1935)
Jattends un Navire (1934)

Mezzo:  Darcy Dunn
Baritone:  Mark Singer
Pianist:  Dr. Lloyd Arriola

THE RED SCARE: Concert Series​​​

DURING THE WAR - ENTARTETE MUSIK  
March 9, 2012
6:30pm

Degenerate music (German: Entartete Musik) was a label applied in the 1930s by the Nazi government in Germany to certain forms of music that it considered to be harmful or decadent. The Nazi government's concern for degenerate music was a part of its larger and more well-known campaign against degenerate art ('Entartete Kunst'). In both cases, the government attempted to isolate, discredit, discourage, or ban the works.
 
Anton Webern
5 Lieder, Op. 4 - for voice and piano, on poems by Hildegard Jone

 

Tenor:  Peter Furlong
Pianist:  Dr. Lloyd Arriola

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Prelude to Act 3 from DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE

- for piano
 

Pianist:  Dr. Lloyd Arriola

Arnold Schoenberg
Drei Klavierstücke, Op. posth. (1894) - for piano

 

Pianist:  Dr. Lloyd Arriola
 
Arnold Schoenberg
6 Lieder, Op. 8 - for voice and piano

 

Soprano:  Courtney Ross
Pianist:  Dr. Lloyd Arriola


 

WWII and its Aftermath - THE RED SCARE  
June 15, 2012
6:30pm
 
If World War II was one of the most important and tragic events in twentieth century American history, it was doubly so for American Jews. The war had a transfiguring effect on American Jews and on their idea of themselves as Jews. The final concert in this three part series will focus on the aftermath of World War II, as seen through the works of two Jewish composers, Hanns Eisler (who finally settled in California after fleeing Nazi Germany), and Leonard Bernstein, who's popularity was greatly threatened by his left-wing activities as early as the mid-1940s.

Hanns Eisler*
Hollywood Songbook (selections) - for baritone and piano

Baritone:  Kelvin Chan
Pianist:  Wei-En Hsu
 
Leonard Bernstein*
Arias and Barcarolles (selections) - for mezzo, baritone, one piano / 4 hands

Mezzo:  Elspeth Davis
Baritone:  Vince Vincent
Pianist:  Wei-En Hsu
Pianist:  Ling Yu Hsiao

*Eisler Notes:  After 1933, Eisler's music and Brecht's poetry were banned by the Nazi Party. Both artists fled, first to Moscow, where The Decision was produced and staged. Eventually, Eisler and Brecht sought refuge in the United States, along with other exiles fleeing Nazi Germany.  Eisler's two most notable works of the 1930s and 40s were the monumental Deutsche Sinfonie a choral symphony in eleven movements based on poems by Brecht and Ignazio Siloneand, a cycle of art songs published as the Hollywood Songbook.  With lyrics by Brecht, Eduard Mörike, Friedrich Hölderlin and Goethe, it established Eisler's reputation as one of the twentieth century's great composers of German lieder.

*Bernstein Notes:  During the long reign of J. Edgar Hoover, Leonard Bernstein was a person of considerable interest to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although Hoover's operatives began tracking Bernstein's left-wing activities as early as the mid-1940s, the first serious inquiry came in March 1949, when David Niles, President Truman's administrative assistant, asked the Bureau to look into the young musician's background. Niles wanted the information because Truman and Chaim Weizmann, the first President of Israel, were scheduled to attend an event at which Bernstein was slated to perform. A memo from D. M. Ladd to Hoover states that Bernstein was connected, affiliated, or in some manner associated with various organizations described as Communist fronts.

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