LSO and Dallas SQ unite for Hitler’s Romani victims
OrchestrasFrom a press release:
While visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany, Ion Zanca, founder of Dallas String Quartet, discovered a cruel chapter of his own heritage. Amidst the barbed wire and walls of the museum, he stumbled upon a section dedicated to the Romani people, his ancestors.
Although raised in Romania, this was the moment Zanca learned of Adolf Hitler declaring all Romani ‘lives unworthy of living.’ Men, women and children were sent to concentration camps including Auschwitz, Chelmno, Belzec and Dachau. An estimated 80% of Europe’s Romani population, about 1.5 million, were killed. Commonly referred to by the derogatory name “Gypsies”, their story remains relatively unknown. In this musical tribute, Zanca invites listeners to join in the rediscovery of a history.
In collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, each of the album’s five songs is represented by a chapter, unveiling this vicious period in history, while simultaneously showcasing the indomitable spirit, heart, and profound love for music that defines the Romani people.
Seriously we are still talking about WW2…move on!
What a marvelous, extraordinary initiative! Bravisimo to Mr. Zanca for bringing this important issue to light so elegantly.
There are two curious aspects to this bit of information which deserve some attention:
1) Classical musicians – as far as a string quartet can be considered a typical classical ensemble with an impressive history and ditto repertoire – who issue a CD, are now calling it an ‘album’, thereby imitating the speak of pop music
2) Music is used ‘to tell a story’ which does not need music at all to have this story told: there are much better ways to ask attention for the historic crime
It looks like classical musicians who desperately seek ways to give what they are doing some relevance, because just playing classical music for string quartet is apparently not enough to represent a value in itself. This tendency can be noticed all over the musical world: don’t ask people to listen but connect the music to something else that draws attention, no matter what it is. And in the process music is being instrumentalized for non-musical ends, like a woman who throws herself in the arms of any man who passes-by in the streets, to have at least a place to stay.
And then: how do you get across the story of the murder of 1,5 million of innocent people with a string quartet?
Spot on! To which I would add: how do you get it across with just a single classical CD that will achieve minimal sales and soon be forgotten among all the other ‘Albums’ that are flooding the market?
Far better than this would have been a film detailing this gruesome story, which would have had a far better chance of reaching a wide audience.
Given the holocaust industry there is no lack of material.
That is rather a distasteful term.
Gypsy is now a derogatory term? Who knew.
Who didn’t?
Oh get over yourself. You didn’t get offended by the term until you thought it was fashionable to do so. So we’ll be seeing you picketing concerts featuring Zigeuner this or “Gypsy” that? Too bad, you’ll me missing out on some great music – Brahms, Dvorak, Kodaly, Sarasate, etc. Or should they be erased from history?