ORF “matinee” for “Liberation Day”: Documentaries “Classical Music under the Swastika” and “At the End of the World – Victor Urbancic in Iceland” – 2024-05-02 09:09:27

Also: “Icons of Austria – Figl’s Armchair at the State Treaty” and “The Culture Week” – on May 5th from 9:05 a.m. on ORF 2

Vienna (OTS) – The “matinee” on Sunday, May 5th, 2024, at 9:05 a.m. on ORF 2 will show, as part of the ORF’s focus on the 79th “Liberation Day” (details at presse.>) on May 8th, with the the surrender of the German Wehrmacht and thus the liberation from National Socialism as well as the end of the war in Europe are commemorated, two documentaries related to the topic. First, the film “Classical Music under the Swastika – The Maestro and the Cellist of Auschwitz” examines the importance of classical music in the so-called “Third Reich”. The focus is on the German Jew Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who only survived Auschwitz thanks to her musical talent, and the internationally celebrated German star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who came to terms with the Hitler regime. Afterwards, the production “At the End of the World – Victor Urbancic in Iceland” (10 a.m.) sheds light on the fate of the Austrian composer, who ended up in Iceland as part of his escape from the National Socialists. After an edition of the short series “Icons of Austria” (10.30 a.m.) about “Figl’s armchair at the State Treaty”, “Die Kulturwoche” (10.40 a.m.) presents reports and tips on current cultural events at the end of the ORF cultural morning.

“Classical music under the swastika – The maestro and the cellist from Auschwitz” (9:05 a.m.)

Why was classical music so important to Hitler and Goebbels? Along with Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach and Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner was particularly important as Hitler’s favorite composer. German music was intended to legitimize the supremacy of the “Third Reich” in the world and distract from the atrocities of the National Socialists. Adolf Hitler was aware of the power of music and Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels controlled musical life in the Nazi state, in which Jewish artists no longer had a place. This is how the Berlin Philharmonic became the state “Reich Orchestra”.
The main characters of the film are two people who represent musical culture under National Socialism in very different ways: star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler and the cellist of the women’s orchestra in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Here is a conductor who was celebrated worldwide, who entered into an alliance with Hitler and his aides. There is a young woman who was deported to Auschwitz as a German Jew and only survived thanks to her musical talent. Both were affected by the Nazi dictatorship: Furtwängler decided to stay in Germany and made a pact with the National Socialists. Lasker-Wallfisch, on the other hand, tried to survive in the brutal everyday life of the extermination camp, using the cello as her life insurance. Both shared a love of classical music, which could be heard in the Berlin Philharmonic, at the Nazi party rally in Nuremberg and in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Why did gifted artists like Furtwängler make a pact with evil? Why was music played in death camps? And how did the victims’ view of music change?
Christian Berger’s documentary features, among others, conductors Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemann, Wilhelm Furtwängler’s children and, of course, 98-year-old cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. It’s especially her memories that get under your skin. Historical film material that was restored and colored for the film makes history tangible and bears witness to a dramatic time.

“To the End of the World – Victor Urbancic in Iceland” (10:00 a.m.)

In 1938, the Austrian composer Victor Urbancic and his Jewish wife, the poet and sculptor Melitta Grünbaum, had to leave the country. They were able to emigrate to Iceland together with their three children. At that time they did not yet know that the island in the far north of Europe would remain their home for the rest of their lives. Stephan Herzog’s documentation provides an insight into the family’s eventful history.
The work in his new home was hardly comparable to that in Austria. Urbancic, who had already conducted at major venues, initially did basic work in Iceland while working as a music school teacher. He copied sheet music by hand or transcribed unavailable pieces from records and traveled the country on bad roads and by ship to find singers for his projects. Later he was also musical director of the National Theater and head of the choir association. As such, he collected Icelandic folk songs and arranged them for mixed choir. His wife Melitta, who, in addition to her work as a sculptor, was also a writer and beekeeper, translated the folk song texts into German and English, making them possible to perform in multiple languages.
In May 2023, on the occasion of Victor Urbancic’s 120th birthday, the chamber choir of the Johann-Joseph-Fux Conservatory Graz embarked on a musical search for clues: under the direction of Franz M. Herzog, the singers traveled to Iceland to sing together to perform music by Victor Urbancic with the choir of the Reykjavík University of Music.
Sibyl Urbancic, Victor and Melitta’s now 86-year-old daughter, accompanied the project. She visited the choir at rehearsals, helped learn the Icelandic lyrics and flew with them to Iceland. Sibyl Urbancic is an inspiring storyteller, and so the guests learn more about her parents’ work and life.

Questions & Contact: