Raphael Wallfisch: Composers in Exile
The cello and piano duo perform a wealth of contrasting music by composers forced to flee their countries in the Second World War.
The British cellist Raphael Wallfisch, son of Holocaust survivor and cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, performs with pianist Simon Callaghan in major works by composers of diverse musical backgrounds and approaches who were caught up in the suffering and upheaval of the Second World War.
This performance marks one year since the release of documentary The Last Musician of Auschwitz, which centres on Lasker-Wallfisch’s story.
Bartók’s Rhapsody No.1, written before he emigrated to the United States, reflects the fiery, soulful folk music of his native Hungary.
Mieczysław Weinberg escaped the Holocaust in Poland, and travelled to Moscow, where he wrote prolific quantities of deeply personal music.
The Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans, whose powerful language brims with vitality, experienced internal exile in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.
Influenced by jazz and Maurice Ravel, Szymon Laks wrote his Cello Sonata in 1932; later, he was incarcerated in Auschwitz and tasked with conducting the concentration camp orchestra.
Finally, Bohuslav Martinů’s Cello Sonata No.2 reveals the magic of the Czech composer’s style even as he struggled with homesickness as an immigrant to the United States.
Performers
Raphael Wallfisch cello
Simon Callaghan piano
Repertoire
Bartók: Rhapsody No.1 arr. for cello & piano
Weinberg: Sonata No.1 for solo cello, Op.72
Bosmans: Cello Sonata in A minor
Interval
Laks: Cello Sonata
Martinů: Cello Sonata No.2
Need to know
Find out more about the music with our free programme.
View the programme
Reviews
‘Raphael Wallfisch and Simon Callaghan muster every ounce of energy to characterise these sonatas’
The Strad
‘Wallfisch throws himself heart and soul into his music’
Gramophone
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
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