In 2007 the orchestra began to play regular concerts. For that season I chose pieces that showed many aspects of Judaism. We played works that were created in concentration camps, a religious oratorio, works by Jewish composers and works by multinational composers like Alfred Schnittke.
For the 2007/2008 season I chose a central theme that had a strong influence on Jewish music in the 20th century: persecution. Many of the composers who were persecuted by the Nazis were forgotten, and their works waited a long time to be rediscovered. Starting in the 1990's many pieces were rescued from oblivion and performed again. In the last few years operas like Viktor Ullmann's "Der Kaiser von Atlantis" and works by Korngold and Schulhoff have been performed regularly.
In addition to remembering these composers we think it is important for their artistry to be understood and appreciated. They wrote wonderful music that deserves a place in the repertoire.
Because it is our goal to combine Jewish with non-Jewish, we are also playing works by composers like Hindemith and Shostakovich who who were persecuted for political reasons rather than ethnic or religious grounds.
As a final note, the performance of a commissioned work will once again be an important event in our season.
I look forward to interesting concerts with you, my audience.
Daniel Grossmann