Vienna welcomes back emigre composer, 98
mainThe composer Walter Arlen, born in Vienna and forced to leave after Hitler’s 1938 Anschluss, attended a tribute concert last night at the Konzerthaus by the Wiener Symphoniker.
Never too late to say sorry.
Did the Rechnungshof include this concert in their arguments?
https://slippedisc.com/2017/10/vienna-orchestra-is-wasting-taxpayers-money/
This concert was privately financed by an enthusiastic lover of Walter Arlen’s music and did not cost the Austrian taxpayer a penny. Where does this blind resentment come from?
Maybe from where he fled? Just a thought.
“Not cost the Austrian taxpayer a penny” is a myth. Every single such event costs a huge amount of Sünderlohn, directly or indirectly. Karajan even let the state finance the trips of his orchestra to the Salzburger Festspiele and the recording sessions for his private company. These trips were then registered as “Dienstreise”.
Such delayed welcome may also have something to do with the nature of Arle’s music, which is thoroughly traditional:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ77101Ka3M
From the viewpoint of Webern-infested ideologies about 20C music, such composers are ‘superfluous’ (P Boulez).
With the crumbling of ‘cold war music politics’, perspectvies upon reality may open themselves once again.
His life story is incredible:
https://www.ft.com/content/9e0c63e0-42f8-11e3-9d3c-00144feabdc0
https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/walter-arlen-exiled-composers-personal-works-are-rediscovered
http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2017/062617.html
But it appears that he is 97:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Arlen
For anyone who is interested, a programme with and about Walter Arlen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nrqvk