The Nash Ensemble: Music in the Terezín Ghetto

The Nash Ensemble

The Nash Ensemble:
Ian Brown (piano)
Philippa Davies (flute)
Richard Hosford (clarinet)
Laura Samuel (violin)
Michael Gurevich (violin)
James Boyd (viola)
Adrian Brendel (cello)
Amelia Freedman CBE - Artistic Director

The Czech town of Terezín (Theresienstadt), located 40 miles from Prague, gained notoriety as a World War II Nazi holding camp for Jewish prisoners, mostly destined for the death camps of Eastern Europe. Yet despite the horrific conditions in the ghetto (as its inmates called it), the large number of musicians, actors and other artists imprisoned there gave rise to an extraordinary cultural life for a few short years.

In a programme of music either composed or performed in the Terezín ghetto, the Nash Ensemble commemorates the artistry of a generation of Jewish musicians whose lives were cruelly curtailed. Music for piano, flute, clarinet and string quartet by Gideon Klein, Viktor Ullman, Hans Krása and Egon Ledeč is prefaced by David Matthews’ specially-commissioned arrangement of the overture to Smetana’s Bartered Bride, an opera performed some 35 times in Terezín, and a poignant reminder of former freedom.

The Nash Ensemble has been described as ‘chamber music royalty’ (Sunday Times, April 2012), ‘a world-beating ensemble’ (The Independent, March 2011), perhaps the most ‘polished, stylish, characterful chamber music group on the planet’ (Herald Scotland, August 2015). Their appearance in ‘Out of the Shadows’ is a fitting tribute to the astonishing musicianship achieved in Terezín.

Programme
Bedřich Smetana, Bartered Bride Overture (arr. David Matthews)*
Viktor Ullmann, String Quartet No 3
Hans Krása, Passacaglia and Fuga and Tanze  for string trio

INTERVAL

Egon Ledeč, Gavotte for string quartet
Gideon Klein, String Trio
Hans Krása, Instrumental Suite for the children's opera Brundibar
(arr. David Matthews)* for piano, flute, clarinet, and string quartet

* commissioned by the Nash Ensemble

Pre-concert talk
6.15pm: ‘Creativity in Adversity’ - Dr David Fligg reflects on the curious story of how and why music flourished in the Terezín ghetto.

Tickets
£15 (adults), £13.50 (over 60s) £12 (under 30s, students and unwaged)