The catalogue to the exhibition: Fritz Kreisler – a cosmopolitan in exile. From child prodigy to ” King of Violonists”
The exhibition at the mdw’s Exilarte Center shows the different stages of life of one of the greatest violin virtuosos of the 20th century, whose success story started in Vienna and ended in New York. Fritz Kreisler was cosmopolitan on the one hand and affected by the fate of exiles on the other.
On the occasion of the 10th International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition, which has been held at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna since 1979, the new exhibition of the Exilarte Center of the mdw was developed – to present the life and importance of Fritz Kreisler to the public.
After the Nazis had banned all of his performances and recordings due to his Jewish origins, he emigrated to the USA in September 1939 and became an American citizen in 1943. In addition to his spectacular successes from childhood to the end of his career, the exhibition sheds light on him as a Jew and exile. The exhibition also shows Kreisler’s philanthropic and charitable activities. Material newly discovered in the course of the research complements the difficult research situation.
Authors:
Ulrike Anton Amy Biancolli Alfred Dümling Gerold Gruber Michael Haas Nobuko Nakamura Matthias Schmidt Eric Wen
Editor:
Prof. Dr. Gerold Gruber (Chairman of the Exilarte Center)
Triangel of Viennese Tradition Zemlinsky – Schönberg – Hoffmann
Inspired by Arnold Schönberg’s 150th birthday, celebrated around the world, the new exhibition at the mdw’s Exilarte Center sheds light on the social and cultural environment of the founder of the Second Viennese School. In particular, attention is paid to Alexander von Zemlinsky, who taught Schönberg and introduced him to the Viennese music circles, and to Richard Hoffmann, who was a pupil of Schönberg and later became his assistant.
These three personalities, their professional, friendly and musical connections as well as their fates during the time of the Nazi regime are brought closer using life documents, photos and music manuscripts.
Countless other free spirits of the early 20th century from music, literature, fine arts and architecture as well as wealthy art lovers and patrons met for artistic exchange and lavish festivals in the artists’ colony planned by Josef Hoffmann in what was already the posh 19th district of Vienna. Most of them had Jewish roots and were persecuted by the Nazis. Many were able to emigrate, many died in the concentration camps.
Dazzling personalities such as Alma Mahler-Werfel, Gustav Mahler, Carl Moll, Koloman Moser, Hugo Henneberg, Sigmund Freud, Egon and Emmy Wellesz, Emil and Yella Hertzka, Richard Gerstl, Adolf Loos and Arnold Schönberg inspired one another in this Art Nouveau villa colony, which will be recreated as a model for the exhibition.
House of Zemlinsky ( Drawing by Walter Loos)
Arnold Schönberg was one of the first to emigrate in 1933, Richard Hoffmann in 1935 and Alexander Zemlinksy after the “Anschluss” in 1938… How much does the forced exile change a person, an artist in his work? In the exhibition we take a look at the respective oeuvre before and after fleeing into an uncertain future.
The score for one of Arnold Schönberg’s best-known works, A Survivor from Warsaw, written in the USA in 1947, is contextualised in the exhibition. Alexander Zemlinsky, who had previously written large symphonic works, has almost fallen silent as a result of the persecution: on display are the two song collections that he created in New York from 1938 (op. 27) and 1940 (without op.).
The question of what life in Europe would have been like for millions of people affected without Hitler’s National Socialist racial doctrine can no longer be answered and the loss of artistic potential in Europe as a result cannot be measured. We show the arbitrary bureaucracy with which Jews and people critical of the system were harassed. Documents such as Zemlinsky’s Reich Flight Tax Notice and Alien Registration Receipt Card with fingerprint can be seen in the original.
Zemlinsky and Schönberg managed to escape to the USA by transatlantic steamship, Richard Hoffmann emigrated to New Zealand. Other flight fates, paths to places of exile for women, men and children are reconstructed in the exhibition.
Many composers and musicians from the society around Zemlinsky, Schönberg and Hoffmann did not succeed in finding freedom. They lived underground (e.g. Josef Polnauer, Olga Novakovic and others) or were murdered by the Nazis (e.g. Schönberg’s family members or Schönberg’s friend and publisher Henri Hinrichsen).
“Triangle of the Viennese Tradition” is the title of the connection between three musicians who shared a similar fate as composers, educators and friends: they were of Jewish origin and therefore outcasts and exiles.
Piano trios are an important part of the compositional work of André Singer and Hans Winterberg. The planned concert evening will feature the two still largely unknown but musically fascinating trios, interpreted by pianist David Hausknecht, violinist Floris Willem and cellist Cristina Basili.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
The composer and pianist Hans (Hanuš) Winterberg, born in Prague in 1901, found his final resting place in Bad Tölz in 1991. Winterberg, a student of Alexander von Zemlinsky, was part of Czechoslovakia’s musical elite in the 1930s and was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp on January 26, 1945 because of his Jewish descent. Winterberg’s fascinating oeuvre has only recently been rediscovered and published in a collaboration between the Exilarte Center of the mdw and the publishing house Boosey & Hawkes.
The internationally renowned English pianist Jonathan Powell plays a pioneering role in this Winterberg renaissance. The winner of the German Record Critics’ Prize in 2021 places Winterberg in the context of Czech piano music and builds a bridge between Czech and contemporary Viennese traditions. A highlight of the recital is the premiere of Winterberg’s 4th piano sonata.
Afterwards, a discussion will examine Winterberg’s biography, work and rediscovery of his legacy against the background of the historical developments of the 20th century.
Event in cooperation with the Bad Tölz Singing and Music School, Peter Puskas, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Czech Center Munich, Cultural Department for the Bohemian Countries in the Adalbert Stifter Association
The renowned duo – cellist Vida Vujic and pianist Sybilla Konstantinova – is dedicated to the cello sonatas of Walter Würzburger and Walter Bricht, whose papers are in the archives of the Exilarte Center
Tuesday, October 17, 2023, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
SPECIAL EVENTS as part of the ORF Long Night of Museums
1) “The songwriting of Erich Wolfgang Korngold”, lecture with music (start: 6:15 p.m.)
Opening: Gerold Gruber, head of the Exilarte Center
Kurt Arrer has been intensively involved with the composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his father Julius Korngold for decades. He is considered an expert in the field of transferring Julius Korngold’s difficult-to-read script. The lecture by the contemporary historian Arrer will be dedicated to the composer’s songwriting. Accompanying the lecture, singerJosipa Bainacwill interpret works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold with pianist David Hausknecht.
Every two years a competition takes place in Schwerin that is exclusively dedicated to ostracized music. Exilarte awards a special prize that gives the winners the opportunity to take part in a concert in Vienna. The excellent duo with Ruben Mirzoian (clarinet) and Philipp Thönes(piano) were particularly convincing. They will interpret works by Joseph Horovitz (who died in London last year) and Paul Hindemith, among others.
3) “Tif vi di Nakht” with Ethel Merhaut and friends (start: 10:00 p.m.)
While hits like “That only exists once” or “In der Bar zum Krokodil” became absolute box office hits in Austria and Germany, Yiddish songs like “Glik” and “Zog es mir nokh amol” caused sell-outs in New York in the 1930s theater halls. “Tif wie die Nacht”, named after a tango by Abraham Ellstein, spans a musical arc from Europe to America and connects the German-speaking and Yiddish music scenes of the golden 20s and roaring 30s. Together with her outstanding ensemble, Ethel Merhaut strolls virtuosically between chanson, jazz and swing and takes the audience into the golden era of film and entertainment music. Music by Richard Werner Heymann, Abraham Ellstein, Robert Stolz, Sholom Secunda. Texts by Molly Picon, Fritz Löhner-Beda, Peter Herz, Bella Meissel…
4) Quick tours through the exhibition (from 6:30 p.m.)
The life and work of the famous violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler are presented in the new exhibition at the Exilarte Center with pictures, sheet music, life and sound documents. When the National Socialists came to power in Germany, the star violinist’s performances were accompanied by disruptions and calls for a boycott due to his Jewish origins. His compositions were also no longer played. In September 1939 he immigrated to the USA, where he settled in New York with his wife Harriet.
ENTRY
Tickets can be purchased directly at the Exilarte Center!
Exilarte center of the mdw, Lothringerstraße 18 / 1st floor, 1030 Vienna
Free entry for children up to 12 years*Reduced tickets for schoolchildren, students, senior citizens, people with disabilities, military servants and Ö1 Club members. Please have relevant proof ready on site.
Under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in the Republic of Austria in cooperation with the Exilarte Center of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Croatian Cultural Association in Vienna “Matica Hrvatska Beč” and Association Tonwerk – Forum for New Music
Wednesday, October 04, 2023 at 7:00 p.m
Austrian Academy of Sciences / ballroom (2nd floor) Doktor-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2 1010 Vienna
Admission free!
Greeting:
H.E. Daniel Glunčić, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia
Moderator:
ao Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Gerold W. Gruber, founder of the Exilarte Center
Program:
Akos Banlaky: Homage to Dora Pejačević – 2 songs from the Suite op. 63 after Antun Gustav Matoš
Arnold Schönberg: String Quartet in D major (1897)
Dora Pejačević: “Transformation” after Karl Kraus and “Love Song” after Rainer Maria Rilke
Dora Pejačević: Piano Quintet in B minor, Op. 40
Interpreters:
Motus String Quartet
Tim de Vries, violin | Karla Križ, violin | Guilherme Caldas, viola | Domonkos Hartmann, cello
10 years of Croatia in the EU (2023) | 100th anniversary of the death of composer Dora Pejačević (2023) | Croatian Presidium IHRA (2023) | 150th birthday of Karl Kraus (2024) | 150th birthday of Arnold Schönberg (2024) | 150th birthday of Antun Gustav Matoš (2023)
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In the oeuvre of the Croatian composer Dora Pejačević (1885-1923), the composition Metamorphosis occupies a special place both because of its musical significance and because of the context in which it was created: the vocal work for alto, violin and organ or piano was based on verses by the Austrian writer and journalist Karl Kraus (1874-1936) in the spring of 1915 and was intended for the wedding of their mutual friend Sidonia Nádherný von Borutin, which did not take place. Kraus planned to perform the composition in Vienna in 1916, but due to the delay in the score and problems with the performers, the performance did not take place. Correspondence between Kraus and Nádherný recorded that Kraus showed the composition to Arnold Schönberg, who – despite his skepticism about a woman composer – praised the work and advocated its performance.
Metamorphosis by Dora Pejačević is one of the characteristic works of modernism; Schönberg particularly pointed out the interlude before the beginning of the text “Today is Spring”. Encountering Kraus’ poetry was obviously stimulating for Dora Pejačević’s departure from traditional patterns and periodic form towards a freer flow of musical phrases and expressive harmonies.
The symposium is part of the three-year research project “Musicians in Exile from Nazi Germany and Austria and their Role in the Development of Musical Life in Iceland, 1935-1974”. Gerold Gruber and Josipa Bainac Hausknecht gave the lecture “Art Creates Awareness: Estates of the Exilarte Center Vienna”.
Symposium Speaker G. Gruber, A. Ingolfsson, A. Dümling
Opening with Grazer University Choir, conducted by F. M. Herzog
Gerold Gruber with family Urbancic
Gerold Gruber visiting the grave of Victor und Melitta Urbancic
In Reykjavik, Gerold Gruber visited the family of the Icelandic exile composer Victor Urbancic, who was born in Vienna in 1903. He studied composition, conducting and musicology at the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (today’s mdw). Already during his studies he worked as a conductor for incidental music at the Theater in der Josefstadt. From 1926 to 1933 he worked as a solo répétiteur, operetta conductor and finally opera conductor at the Stadttheater Mainz. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Urbancic was already with Dr. Married Melitta Grunbaum. The family moved back to Austria. From 1934 Urbancic continued his teaching activities at the conservatory of the Musikverein für Steiermark in Graz. Just six months later he was appointed deputy director of the conservatory and quickly assumed an important position in Graz concert life. Around 1936, the Graz Conservatory in particular became a nucleus of the National Socialists’ “new ethnic music education”. After Hitler’s troops invaded Austria, the family was forced to flee. This is how Urbancic ended up in Iceland, where he was considered one of the pioneers of modern musical life.
Most of Victor Urbancic’s estate is located in Reykjavik. Sibyl Urbancic (the daughter of Victor Urbancic) will hand over her father’s estate, which is still in her Viennese apartment, to the Exilarte Zentrum.
