Voix Etouffees (‘Stifled Voices’): Schulhoff, Tokayer, Korngold & Weill
$5-$20 suggested donation
Erich Wolfgang Korngold — 4 Lieder nach Shakespeare ("Shakespearean Songs"), Op. 31
Erich Wolfgang Korngold — Incidental Music from Much Ado About Nothing, Op. 11
Alfred Tokayer — Priere sans paroles
Kurt Weill — Selected works
Adrianna Hulscher, violin
Johanna Mastenbrook, piano
Karin McCullough, piano
Katie Hochman, soprano
Malya Muth, soprano
Schulhoff – Selections from Jazz Partita for Solo Piano
Tokayer – Priere sans paroles (unpublished duet for violin/piano and soprano/piano)
Korngold – Selections from Shakespearean Songs for soprano/piano and from Much Ado About Nothing for violin/piano
Weill – Songs for soprano/piano
You have a rare opportunity to hear some music that few people on earth have ever seen performed; the next Haller Lake Music Series concert – "Les Voix Étouffées" (The Stifled Voices) – features music by four composers whom the Nazis tried to silence.
Many of you may know the songs of Kurt Weill and may have seen some movies for which Erich Korngold wrote the scores, and some of you may have heard performances at Benaroya Hall of some of the music written by Erwin Schulhoff while he was imprisoned in a concentration camp, but Alfred Tokayer is surely an unfamiliar name.
About a decade ago, a box of his hand-written music manuscripts was found in a basement in a library in Canada. A librarian tracked down Tokayer's only child (now in her 80s) living in the south of France. Haller Lake Music Series Program Director and pianist Karin McCullough was introduced to Irene Tokayer Currie some years ago while doing a house exchange in France, and the two ladies became friends.
Irene gave Karin permission to perform her father's unpublished music, including the "Nursery Suite," which Tokayer had written for his then very young daughter after he had to leave Irene and her mother behind in Germany and seek asylum in France.
On the program: Erwin Schulhoff's Foxtrot a' la Hawaii, Boston Waltz, and "Shimmy" from Jazz Partita; Alfred Tokayer's Das ist der Wein (sung by Katie Hochman accompanied by pianist Johanna Mastenbrook), Priere sans paroles (performed by PNB violinist Adrianna Hulscher and pianist Karin McCullough), Ou vas-tu donc?, Soir, and Arriere Ete' (sung by Katie Hochman accompanied by pianist Karin McCullough), and Une journee de mon enfant (the "Nursery Suite," sung by Malya Muth accompanied by pianist Karin McCullough); Erich Korngold's Marietta's Lied from "The Dead City" (sung by Katie Hochman accompanied by pianist Johanna Mastenbrook), selections from Much Ado About Nothing (violin/piano duet), Selections from Shakespearean Songs (sung by Katie Hochman accompanied by pianist Karin McCullough); and various songs by Kurt Weill including "Wie lange noch" (sung by Katie Hochman accompanied by pianist Johanna Mastenbrook) and "Youkali" (sung by Malya Muth accompanied by pianist Johanna Mastenbrook).
Come listen to Seattle Symphony violinist Adrianna Hulscher, pianists Johanna Mastenbrook and Karin McCullough, and sopranos Katie Hochman and Malya Muth perform the enthralling music of these four composers.
Admission is by freewill donation ($20 suggested; $5 for youths 18 and under). A reception with free refreshments follows where you can chat with the performers and purchase a CD of Tokayer's extant works recorded as a university project by musicians in Bucharest, Romania.