The lecture concert was part of the conference "Persecuted Musicians in National Socialist Thuringia II" on November 13, 2020 at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar

The concert was presented by the renowned Israeli singer Tehila Nini Goldstein and by the pianist and musicologist, Prof. Dr. Jascha Nemtsov. They performed works by three persecuted and forgotten Jewish composers from Thuringia, most of which were only recently rediscovered and represent a remarkable addition to the repertoire of the 20th century.

This includes the work of Hans Heller (1898-1969), who came from Greiz. He composed the piano sonata in 1927 while still studying. It reveals an astonishing masterpiece and originality by the then young composer. The concert program also included his song cycle "Vom kleinen Alltag" (1930) based on texts by Anton Wildgans. You can watch the recording on our YouTube channel: [ Ссылка ].

The legacy of Hans Heller has only been evaluated for about two years and it is now clear that he is one of the most important composers of his generation - whose work was completely eliminated from music history by persecution during the Nazi era. His name is not even found in the most popular reference books and his music has been silent for many decades. Heller, who was politically very alert and had no illusions about the National Socialists' intentions, fled to France in 1933. After the occupation of France, he was initially taken to an internment camp and later had to do heavy forced labor in the so-called Organization Todt. One day before the planned deportation to Auschwitz, he was warned by an SS employee and was able to escape. He then survived in a Resistance hiding place.

Research on persecuted and forgotten Jewish composers, and recently also specifically on persecuted Jewish musicians in Thuringia, is one of the main focus areas of the Chair of the History of Jewish Music at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar. The concert on November 13, 2020 in the Fürstenhaus concert hall showed that this is by no means purely historical research or a kind of reparation. With this concert, the conference "Persecuted Musicians in National Socialist Thuringia. A Search for Traces II", conceived and organized by the research fellow at the chair Dr. Maria Stolarzewicz, was concluded.
Website of the Chair of the History of Jewish Music: [ Ссылка ]

The pianist and musicologist Jascha Nemtsov was born in 1963 in Magadan (Siberia) and grew up in Saint Petersburg where he graduated from the State Conservatory. Since 1992 he lives in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2013 he was appointed as professor for History of Jewish Music at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar. Furthermore, he is Academic Director of the Cantorial School of the Abraham Geiger College and member of the School of Jewish Studies at the University of Potsdam. Jascha Nemtsov plays solo concerts as well as participates in various chamber music formations all over the world. Among his regular chamber music partners are David Geringas, Kolja Blacher, Tabea Zimmermann and Kolja Blacher. He has recorded around 40 CDs, among them many first recordings of works by Jewish composers. In 2007 Jascha Nemtsov was awarded the "Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik" and in 2018 the "OPUS KLASSIK" for his anthology of 5 CDs with piano works by the composer Vsevolod Zaderatsky, who was persecuted under Stalinism.

свернуть