Healing A Fractured World: A portrait of exiled composer Egon Lustgarten

Egon Lustgarten (1887-1961), an Austrian composer of Jewish descent, was forced to emigrate to the United States after Hitler's annexation of Austria. The Chicago premiere of 'Healing a Fractured World: A portrait of exiled composer Egon Lustgarten' brings the composer's story to life through performance of his rarely heard musical works, narrated personal correspondence and images.

A brief opening lecture will give an overview of Lustagrten's story and the political circumstances that led to his exile. Musical selections will include works for piano, Lieder and opera performed by soprano Melissa Primavera, pianist Sarah Jenks, baritone Carl Ratner and flutist Suzanne Hannau. Interspersed with the musical selections will be narration by actor Fred Wellisch of selected letters to Lustgarten's loved ones and colleagues as well as his diary entries. These media combined will create a portrait of Lustgarten as an artist, an emigrant, and a human. The music will be sung in German with English supertitles and narrated components in English. Images of the composer and places of importance to his story will be displayed as part of the performance. Running time is approximately 90 minutes.

This program is presented by The Lahr von Leïtis Academy and Archive under the auspice of Elysium Between Two Continents.

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