tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post3875668109017608713..comments2024-03-28T22:50:02.315+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Orchestra of Exiles 1936 - getting Jewish musicians out of GermanyHelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-551956714818854322012-11-28T22:47:08.840+11:002012-11-28T22:47:08.840+11:00Deb
Very brave! How ironic that it was Arturo Tos...Deb<br /><br />Very brave! How ironic that it was Arturo Toscanini who became the first non-German to conduct at Bayreuth, in 1930. Toscanini was an artist already well known for his anti-fascist views, so he was one of the very few musicians to stop performing in Germany because he found Nazi policies morally repugnant. Nonetheless I can’t help but think he was the bravest musician in the world when he boldly went to Palestine, thumbing his nose at the Nazi party. <br /><br />Fortunately he always had an alternative, if European music fell apart – the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the USA<br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-3401821120912506432012-11-28T13:40:59.227+11:002012-11-28T13:40:59.227+11:00Arturo Toscanini was a very brave person. I wonder...Arturo Toscanini was a very brave person. I wonder if his career suffered because of his stance.Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-91221378587523213172012-11-28T09:53:10.609+11:002012-11-28T09:53:10.609+11:00jeronimus
the film didn't mention either P.G....jeronimus<br /><br />the film didn't mention either P.G. Wodehouse or Maurice Chevalier, but I will be very interested to follow up on your lead and parnassus'.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-30744004904283167322012-11-28T09:50:24.057+11:002012-11-28T09:50:24.057+11:00Parnassus
True true. Ottilie Metzger really did g...Parnassus<br /><br />True true. Ottilie Metzger really did get out of Germany and was in Brussels in 1939. Her sometime singing partner Erhard Eduard Wechselmann really did get to Amsterdam. Yet they both perished in the Nazi camps.<br /><br />According to the film, there were two more murders that _could_ have been prevented. Of the 73 musicians saved by the the newly established Palestine Symphony Orchestra, 2 went back to Germany to be with their parents in the late 1930s. I love my parents dearly, but even so I would not have gone back to Nazi Germany from a safe haven in 1939. <br /><br /> Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-23427190172853710032012-11-28T01:57:00.293+11:002012-11-28T01:57:00.293+11:00Wodehouse was probably more naive and foolish than...Wodehouse was probably more naive and foolish than a Nazi collaborator. His decision to make cheery broadcasts from Berlin (to get out of a German internment camp) was wrong, but on the other hand, his works contain plenty of ridicule of fascism with Spode and the Blackshorts. jeronimushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099993403604440221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-77623402924427479962012-11-28T01:01:26.677+11:002012-11-28T01:01:26.677+11:00I think you will find with Maurice Chevalier, the ...I think you will find with Maurice Chevalier, the key word is "accused" - he was never found guilty of being a collaborator. Not that I am a fan. jeronimushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099993403604440221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-60852671737237383912012-11-27T19:16:43.798+11:002012-11-27T19:16:43.798+11:00Hello Hels, What a harrowing story this is of the...Hello Hels, What a harrowing story this is of the way the Nazis treated these performers. One would have thought that the murder of many artists of international repute would have spurred strong international support and intervention, but such apparently was not the case.<br /><br />When I collected early phonograph records, I was often dismayed to learn when researching the performers how many of the German ones ended up in the Nazi death camps. The great Ottilie Metzger (many recordings also on Youtube) is one name that springs to mind.<br /><br />The other side of the coin concerns artists and performers accused of cooperating with the Nazis, the list including P.G. Wodehouse and Maurice Chevalier. Some of these were coerced, but some willingly cooperated, or were straddling the political fence, and for me at least this strongly affects my respect for and enjoyment of their work.<br />--Road to ParnassusParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.com