Munich renames orchestra academy after Hermann Levi
NewsDiscreet lobbying by the outgoing music director Kirill Petrenko has prompted Bavarian State Opera to make belated amends to the man who conducted the first Parsial.
The statement says:
In memory of Hermann Levi, the Orchestra Academy of the Bavarian State Opera will be renamed the Hermann Levi Academy of the Bavarian State Orchestra during the memorial concert on July 23, under the musical direction of Kirill Petrenko . Because of his Jewish origins, recognition for Levi’s work has been downplayed and his memory neglected since the 1930s. With the renaming of the orchestra academy, this omission is to be remedied and the work of Hermann Levi is to be given due importance again.
Maybe Kirill Petrenko is good at talking where it matters, even if he has no gift for platitudes at interviews and public statements.
I’ll take his gifts as a musician…….
Nice!
Wonderful news.
What is “the first Parsial”, as opposed to e.g. “the first Parsifal”? Asking for a friend …
Next wagnerian revival: the “Lying Dutchman”…
Doris Godunov? (From the Guardian).
The first Parsial and the Lying Dutchman were first drafts by Wagner, until his 2nd wife and 1st one respectively made the correction.
Tell your “friend” that on SD one should read not just between the lines but between words and even between letters too.
Tell your “friend” that on SD one should always read not just between the lines but between the words and even between the letters too.
You may also tell your “friend” that sometimes on SD one does not see for a rather long time whether a comment went through or not, and so the person writes another similar one just to be sure, only to discover much later than the two comments both finally appear published in full, making it look like someone insisted on saying the same thing twice, even though that was not the idea at all.
The Staatsoper states: “Because of his Jewish origins, recognition for Levi’s work has been downplayed and his memory neglected since the 1930s.”
This would seem to be an admission that he has also been neglected in postwar Germany because he is Jewish.
The admission is apropos, given how Garmisch-Partenkirchen was dealing with his grave until all too recently.
Indeed, it’s in the word ‘since’.
This is good news and thanks go to Maestro Petrenko for his lobbying efforts. Levi was a supporter of Bruckner too.
Levi is the longest serving Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera after Franz Lachner.
Lachner is really the first GMD in Munich and arguably made Munich the most important city in Germany for music in the 1850s and 1860s. Wagner’s music was difficult to perform for most mid-19th century orchestras, but Lachner ensured it was performed in Munich and played a big part in supporting Wagner’s early career. Wagner had him sacked from Munich in 1864 when the 18 year-old Ludwig came to the Bavarian throne.
Von Bulow then became, effectively, music director in Munich, in 1864; but Wagner got his wife pregnant and then eloped with her. Hermann Levi was appointed “to sort out the mess”.
Out of curiousity, has Munich ever acknowledged Lachner? He was undoubtedly treated more shabbily than Levi was.
A late but welcome correction.
That Wagner was forced to accept Levi for his ‘most Christian of works’ must have been a very sour experience. But it showed that the work was not in the least diminished by ‘Jewishness’. There is no record of what Wagner really thought of Levi’s conducting, we only know that he was happy with the performances.
Actually, Wagner wanted Levi to conduct the opera, and rated his qualities as a conductor.
Much too little and much too late
https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/338836/49-years-after-munich-massacre-israeli-athletes-will-march-proudly-at-tokyo-olympics/?fbclid=IwAR0BLSx6HpCIymUhGuOy-WD_Vdu0nLBTM5pv8A47NkqOB4SWWrP1Fu5OSoo
The fact that Wagner entrusted the premiere of “Parsifal” to Hermann Levi , and that it turned out well, speaks for itself. They were on the friendliest personal terms. Levi had the run of Haus Wahnfried, playing hide and seek with Wagner’s children. The chief difficulty was finding chests big enough for the large Levi to hide in.
This is a good, righteous move (no sarcasm).