(“Verwehte Blätter” – “Scattered Leaves” no. 8 Rasch; Fort Wayne Philharmonic, conductor Andrew Constantine: Toccata Classics) It seems incredible that the first time I wrote about the composer Walter Bricht was five years… Continue reading
Born in Ternopol in 1895 as an Austrian who spoke Polish at home, educated in German, he spoke and wrote the language better than native speakers, as did his fellow Ukrainian/Austrian Poles and… Continue reading
There are many reasons why it has taken me some time to write on this blog. There is a new posting on the way, but in the meantime, an important event needs announcing… Continue reading
Say Viennese operetta to anyone and they most likely think of Johann Strauss or Franz Lehár. In any case, both Fledermaus and Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) have pushed their way into… Continue reading
Daniel Spitzer, unfamiliar to English readers, was an Austrian sketch writer in 19th century Imperial Vienna’s paper of record, die Presse, then later relaunched as die Neue Freie Presse. I mention him once… Continue reading
It’s been some time since I’ve written on this blog, and having just returned from a fascinating trip to the United States, there is a good deal to write about. All of this… Continue reading
Every conference has its revelations. The one in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s lovely capital city Schwerin in early October 2015 was no different. After decades of researching material and believing that perhaps it was possible to… Continue reading
The story of Czechoslovakia’s betrayal is illustrated by the loss of composers who were either murdered or died in exile. This is merely to underline again that it is head-in-the-sand to declare politics… Continue reading
In this blog and in my book Forbidden Music, I have tried to stress the importance of the five year period running up to the annexation of Austria in March 1938. They represented… Continue reading
This article was posted some time ago, but appears to have been swallowed somewhere along the line. No matter, it’s good to review such things and my thoughts on this subject have certainly… Continue reading
“Migrants”, “immigrants”, “refugees”, “asylum seekers”: these are the last words I hear at night as I switch off the news and the first I read in my morning paper. For several decades now,… Continue reading
