It was a special programme, with carefully chosen songs. Not by the well-known composers you often hear. These were works by composers who were of Jewish descent or active in the resistance and often at the beginning of their careers. A career that was cruelly cut short in the war. Their work was banned, disappeared and only in a few cases was recovered by a roundabout route.
The children's opera
Just to be sure, I had brought a music stand this time, but Robbert looked at me very surprised for a moment and said it was not necessary. He sang everything by heart, including the Czech songs by Pavel Haas. He gave a catchy explanation of each song, with a speaking voice as beautiful and natural as his singing voice.
We heard songs about beauty, hope and longing, but also with humour. It gives a good idea which poets were popular composers before the war. A very tragic example was the Dutch composer Jan van Gilse who set beautiful German poems to music while his work was banned by the Germans. We also heard songs by Hans Krása, who in 1938 composed the children's opera Brundibár composed. The Germans made a film of its performance in Theresienstadt concentration camp, which was supposed to give the impression of a pleasant place to live. Immediately after the performance, almost all the players were deported to an extermination camp. One girl who played the cat in the opera managed to escape with her mother. Robbert said that he and Micha met her at a recent revival of this opera.
Painfully topical programme
During corona I had seen this show before, already an impressive performance at home on the screen, but in front of an empty hall. Now a performance in real life. What a golden couple, what charisma, empathy of both musicians, who took us to another world on this afternoon. Painfully topical this programme against the background of the genesis of these compositions. What a strong longing for beauty and hope of people spoke from the songs, a hope that remains alive as long as these songs are sung.
Marianne van den Heuvel
Rotterdam department contact
You can also listen to Robbert and Mischa with their programme Verschwiegene Lieder on:
English
