Gottlieb Wallisch is a Viennese pianist with a reputation as a "treasure hunter." He specializes in discovering composers whose careers were interrupted by war or emigration. He is bringing a program to Prague that is very personal to us—the music of Prague native Jaromír Weinberger and other masters of the 1920s and 1930s.
Most of our readers will surely remember Jaromír Weinberger's famous opera Švanda Dudák, which once conquered the world. But you will be presenting his piano works at the Rudolfinum, which you even recorded in a world premiere. What enchanted you so much about the music of this Prague native, whom we may have somewhat forgotten?
Weinberger wrote most of his piano music as a very young man, between 1916 and 1925, also before he composed Svanda. I love this music for all the youthful exuberance, the variety of musical ideas but I also admire the great compositional skills Weinberger had at an early age. His mastery of counterpoint (he was one of the last students of Max Reger for a short period) and his sense for orchestral colors can be heard and felt in all his pieces.
Stylistically I like how he often blends late-romantic expression with French impressionistic style. All this makes Weinberger’s piano music so appealing and outstanding to me.
Your concert program also promises compositions by Erwin Schulhoff and Wilhelm Grosz. These are names associated with the interwar era, when cafés resounded with jazz and dance. So can we look forward to the atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s in Suk Hall? Is this music more serious, or does it also embody the joie de vivre of that era?
Both Schulhoff and Grosz very extremely versatile musicians, they were able to write in „old“ forms like Sonatas, String Quartets or symphonic scale but they also composed in the „new“ jazzy style. The pieces which I have chosen for my recital belong to the first group, they are both extremely serious and ambitious compositions. Schulhoff wrote his Suite No.3 for piano left hand for the pianist Otakar Hollmann who had injured his right arm during World War I. The Symphonic Variations by Grosz are an extremely challenging piece, full of phantastic ideas, but remain most of the time in a late-romantic vein.
Ironically, the era of the dancing 1920ies is represented with „4 Modern Dances“ by Alois Hába, a composer who is associated today with quarter-tone music and Avantgarde compositions.
The Everlasting Hope Festival, which you are opening with your recital, is dedicated to authors whose work has been silenced by history – whether it was Terezín or forced emigration. You have been searching for these "lost voices" for a long time. Is it satisfying for you to bring this music back to the stage, where it historically belongs?
In recent years I had the privilege to come across so many wonderful pieces by ostracized composers. This activity has enriched my musical understanding and my appreciation of the different musical styles of that era enormously. It is therefore very important to me to share this music more and more with audiences. As you say, this music comes back to the stage today - we should not forget that in the 1920ies and 30ies most of this music has been performed in concerts and in opera houses. Again, the variety of musical talents during that era seems so impressive to me. It is a tragedy that through history we have lost so much of them.
You will be performing in Suk Hall at the Rudolfinum, in the heart of Prague 1. For many of our readers, this place is associated with lifelong cultural experiences. What is your relationship to Prague, and how are you looking forward to the acoustics and atmosphere of this historic hall?
I am very excited to play at Suk Hall and to return to Prague because I have many fond memories of this wonderful cities. I remember my first concert in Prague as a teenager in the 1990ies, at Dům U Kamenného zvonu, but also unforgettable concerts at the Prague Spring Festival or a performance of Beethoven Concerto No. 4 at Obecni dúm. So I feel a special bond with this city.
Our readers, seniors from Prague 1, are a very receptive audience. If you had to invite them to your February concert in one sentence, what would you promise them they would get out of the evening?
If you enjoy the music and the atmosphere of the 1920ies this concert will not disappoint you - enjoy a large variety of musical discoveries and styles!
