Upcoming lecture recitals
(153) Saturday, 22. October 2022, Konzerthaus Berlin, Werner-Otto-Saal, 20 h "... I owe Webern my purpose in life ..." Philip Herschkowitz - composer between escape and persecution
As a private tutor he was most sought after - in the 1980's his apartment in Moscow became a place to go for musicians like Elisabeth Leonskaja, Dmitri Smirnov or Elena Firsova.
Philip Herschkowitz was born in Iași (Romania) in 1906. After finishing his studies at the conservatory in his home town he moved to Vienna. Anton Webern made a huge impression on him in those years in Vienna. After the Austrian "Anschluss" in 1938, the Romanian authorities refused to let him move back into his country under the pretext that he was a Jew who had been living abroad. The following odyssey brought him as far as Tashkent. After the war, he settled in Moscow. Since his music didn't conform to the doctrine of "Socialist Realism", he was nearly completely excluded from public musical life. He had to earn a living giving private lessons. Finally, in 1987, he was allowed to move to Vienna, but a few months later he died there.
Most of his compositions have never been published. In our concert, music by Herschkowitz will be performed alongside with music by his pupils and by his teachers: Elena Firsova, Dmitri Smirnow, Anton Webern and Arnold Schönberg.
Performers: Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano) and Ulrike Anton (flute), who will also take part in the talk with Bettina Brand; Friedemann Ludwig (Cello); special guest: Elena Firsova.
This concert will be supported by Bareva Foundation
Following lecture recitals
9. November 2022: Genius and modesty - Ignace Strasfogel in Berlin and New York
12. January 2023: A survivor from Warsaw. The composer and conductor René Leibowitz
23. March 2023: Ursula Mamlok and Black Mountain College. To the composer's 100th anniversary
19. Mai 2023: Prodigy, enfant terrible, early completed - the fantastic story of Polish-Jewish composer André Tchaikowsky
15. Juni 2023: Bronislaw Huberman - Violinist and campaigner for a united Europe