1. 3. 2023 | Hope II. | Winternitz Villa

Hope II. - 1/3/2023, 7:00 p.m.
Winternitz Villa

Prof. PhDr. Lubomír Spurný, Ph.D. – spoken word, projection
Eva Hazdrová-Kopecká – spoken word
Krása Quartet
Šárka Petříková – 1st violin, Jan Palouček – 2nd violin, Daniel Menhart – viola, Marie Dorazilová – cello

Hans Krása - Theme with variations
Ludwig van Beethoven – String Quartet in E minor "Razumovsky", Op. 59 No. 2, 2nd sentence
Pavel Haas – String Quartet No. 2, 1st movement

Musicologist and director of the Institute of Terezín Composers Lubomír Spurný will acquaint the wider festival audience with social and cultural life in the Terezín ghetto (1941-1945). It has gone through a series of changes, from strict bans on public and private productions, through tolerant tolerance to their unreserved support. However, the enumeration of many activities may give the false impression that the ghetto was an imaginary island of freedom in the midst of the war's fury. It cannot be denied that such a possibility was given by the propaganda role that the camp played in Nazi ideology.

The effort to better understand the specific role of the Terezín ghetto leads us, among other things, to the examination of authentic documents about its musical operation. The so-called Heřman collection is an invaluable aid in learning about cultural life in Terezín. This extensive collection of documents related to social life in the ghetto was collected by Theresienstadt prisoner Karel Herrmann (Heřman) from 1943 to September 1944. One of the most valuable documents about musical life in the Theresienstadt ghetto are Viktor Ullmann's reviews "26 Kritiken über musikalische Veranstaltungen in Theresienstadt" (published 1993). Their edition was provided with a commentary and an introductory study by the German musicologist Ingo Schultz. In his criticisms, essays and commentaries, Ullmann reflects on some Terezin opera performances, concerts by soloists or orchestras, new work in the ghetto and critical responses from the audience.
The mentioned documents and a selection from Ullmann's literary work will be presented together with prof. L. Spurným musicologist Eva Hazdrová-Kopecká.