Saturday, January 22, 2011, at 7:30 PM
Maison des Associations, Place Garibaldi
The Music of the Camps
Remember – “Memory is life always carried by living groups”
On the occasion of the 66th Anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp, the Unified Jewish Social Fund, the Jewish Educational and Cultural Center, the Passerel service with the support of the Yad Vashem Committee and the Town Hall present the concert “Music from Another World: The Music of the Camps by Hélios Azoulay and the Incidental Music Ensemble.”
Hélios Azoulay, composer, clarinetist, and musical director of the Incidental Music Ensemble, is joined by virtuosos including Marielle Rubens (mezzo-soprano), Florient Azoulay (narrator), and Laurent Wagschal (piano).
“If this music exists, it is because it must be listened to.”
A concert dedicated to music composed in the Nazi camps. Often overlooked is the presence of music in the camps, Viktor Ullmann, Olivier Messiaen, Ilse Weber, Gideon Klein… vanished… so many musical works were assassinated or forgotten, so many compositions created in the utmost secrecy, miraculously reaching us from the concentration camp inferno.
Hélios Azoulay and the Incidental Ensemble serve as the bearers of this testimony. Through a remarkably executed performance, the formation brings forth music from an oblivion to which it was believed to be condemned. Gideon Klein, Viktor Ullmann, Ilse Weber, or Szymon Laks composed in terrifying conditions music that is as poignant as it is essential to reveal to those still unaware of their existence.
The works presented have a value tied to the historical context, as they remind us of the fate of Jewish musicians sealed by the Nazi regime.
Music and song are among the most beautiful vectors of emotion and knowledge. Poignant works, scores, and poems teach us much about the tragic period of history and those who lived it.
An admirably expressionistic music charged with emotion.
