Upcoming lecture recitals
(147) Monday, 10. May 2021, 20 h
Webcast from Ballhaus Walzerlinksgestrickt
Due to the pandemic no public is allowed to visit the performance on the site. A link to youtube or facebook is at the bottom of this page.
Irma and Stefan Wolpe's Odyssey
The composer Stefan Wolpe, born in Berlin, was endangered in three ways after the transfer of power to the National Socialists in 1933: as a Jew, communist and composer of degenerate music. His wife Irma Wolpe Rademacher was one of the most important interpreters of his compositions. She performed in Bucharest, Berlin, Paris and Palestine and was internationally highly regarded. Both were active members of the left-wing cultural organisation "Novembergruppe". The couple lived in Berlin until March 1933, when the Nazis made a large-scale raid. Being Jewish, Irma was aware of the danger. Her political foresight and her network saved her husband's and her own life. The odyssey of their escape took them through Cheb (Czechoslovakia), Bucharest, Vienna and Zurich, as far as to Jerusalem, and finally to New York. In our days both musicians are little noticed in the music history. The musicologist Nora Born has published the moving correspondence between the two and will pay tribute to the artist couple in conversation with Bettina Brand. The concert features music by Stefan Wolpe and his student Ursula Mamlok.
This concert is dedicated to the memory of Austin Clarkson (*1932 - 13. März 2021). He was musicologist, professor at York University, Toronto, and chairman of the Stefan Wolpe Society. He had studied with Wolpe and became his friend. Clarkson dedicated his life to editing and analyzing Wolpe's music. We will remember Austin Clarkson forever.
[www.austinclarkson.ca/]
Performers: Irmela Roelcke (piano), Brynne McLeod (mezzo-soprano), Ina Henning (accordion), and Klaus Schöpp (flute).
Bettina Brand talks with Nora Born.
Kindly supported by:
Dwight und Ursula Mamlok-Stiftung [www.mamlokstiftung.com/]
Stefan Wolpe Society [www.wolpe.org]
and our hosts Ulrike and Jojakim Balzer [https://walzerlinksgestrickt.de/kultur]
Stream of the concert at youtube: [https://youtu.be/QxcqacIKBQU]
facebook: [https://fb.me/e/TbjXMHar]