May 2007

Book Review: Alma Rose: Vienna to Auschwitz

May 25, 2007 23:17

Alma Rose was an incredible human being. After spending the last few evenings immersed in her biography "Alma Rose: Vienna to Auschwitz", I was touched by her ability to use her violin to transcend the evil around her.

Alma was born into the musical elite of turn-of-the-last-century Vienna, the capital of arts and music in Europe. Her uncle was Gustav Mahler and her father, Arnold Rose, the famous concertmaster and conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic. She had a fabled childhood surrounded by musicians and artists.

Alma studied violin from her father at an early age and later with Sevcik. She toured Europe as concertmistress of an all women's orchestra she organized, and was briefly married to violin virtuoso Vasa Prihoda.

All of the fame and glamour ended however when she was captured and interned in the dreaded Auschwitz. Fearing that she was about to be eliminated she asked for her last wish to be able to play the violin. Word quickly spread that she was the Alma Rose of the Rose Quartet and before she knew it, the camp supervisor, assigned her to lead a women's orchestra. For many of the players, the orchestra was the only chance of survival. Alma took pity on people who auditioned and tried to fit them in, whether it was as accordion player, or guitarist, or if they had no playing talent, as copyist and scribe. She took her job seriously, practicing 10-12 hours a day in addition to giving "concerts". All this was under the constant stress and threat of elimination if they did not prove their worthiness to the SS in charge.

Alma maintained a musicality, and in those moments while playing music, they were transported out of their nightmare and back to the preWar Vienna, playing in a cafe. The music also affected both SS and prisoners alike, and on the Sunday concerts, prisoners strained to hear and grasp a small slice of beauty while SS overlords sat in the front row weeping with emotion. How they could love music so much and then turn around and kill mercilessly was beyond the comprehension of the survivors.

Alma saved the lives of many women, and even though she perished, her bravery and dedication lives on in the stories of the survivors she helped.

The author Richard Newman based the book on firsthand knowledge, primary sources such as letters and interviews with survivors, relatives, friends and contemporaries. He maintained a historical accuracy and honest portrayal of Alma's life. You will be touched while unable to grasp the enormity of the horrors that faced the people who were interned in the death camps.

I read this book alongside with "Night" by Elie Wiesel who arrived at Auschwitz shortly before Alma's death. Both books are highly recommended although extremely sad, they show the resilience of the human spirit in absolutely horrible conditions.

10 replies | Archive link

Enough Hungarian Dances? Maybe not.

May 14, 2007 00:00

Karin and I just finished our spring recital at our studio and it went well. She played two pieces Schubert "The Bee", which was an interesting little piece like a bee meandering around looking for pollen. Then she played a marvelous Rachmaninoff Vocalise. Her violin sounded sweet and beautiful.

I followed with Hungarian Dance #2 and Hungarian Dance #5. I tried to be lively and then play with all the schmaltzy gooey dragged out parts contrasting with the tippy skippy parts. That was actually quite fun. One trick I used in #5 was to emphasis the lower note on the fingered octave. This way, if I wasn't totally in tune, it still sounded okay.

I also baby powdered my hands beforehand. This seemed to help. One guy who played before me, his fingerboard was glistening with spots of sweat. I imagine how uncomfortable that would be. Instead my fingerboard had baby powder on it and this made all the shifting easier.

Karin's girls were so cute. They sat still and paid attention real well.

Now I wonder if my teacher will let me learn #1 and #4 for the next recital, or maybe he's had enough Hungarian dancing for now. As I wrote in the thread about the 9 year old who wanted to quit, it's the Hungarian Dances that motivated me to continue playing violin when I was 9 and wanting to quit. When I was little I had an easier version to play. Now I finally got to play the real Joachim versions. And I love them!

16 replies | Archive link

Hungarian Dancing ad infinitum

May 12, 2007 20:58

Playing at the Ladies' Event at church went well. I'm trying to get more experience playing in public, and somehow I wasn't as nervous playing at my church. I think it's because my teacher was not there. Hee hee.

Today I went back to that sidewalk in front of my daughter's piano lesson to practice the Hungarian Dances #2 and #5 for tomorrow's recital. No birds this time also. I'm sure my family and neighborhood have just about had it with those Hungarian Dances. I'm sure I've played them 100's of times already. My daughter has these mealy worms in a plastic container sitting in our living room. Those poor worms have been subjected to Hungarian Dances for months already. They are on death row, awaiting to be a meal for her Bearded Dragon lizard. Poor worms, what's worse? Hungarian Dances #2 and #5 over and over and over, or being inside a lizard's stomach? I wonder if they're groaning, "Silver Tweezers pick me up!"

1 reply | Archive link

Not Really Busking in Cupertino

May 5, 2007 21:56

Well with all the talk about busking and playing violin in public, I decided to practice my violin next to my car while waiting for my daughter's piano lesson. Usually I just sit in the car and read books. But today, I had a Ladies event at my church right after the piano lesson where I agreed to play a piece.

We arrived at the piano lesson, on a tree-lined residential neighborhood. It was a typical Saturday morning, not many people were out, and the man next door was mowing his lawn and trimming his hedges. With that background noise, I figured no one would notice what I was up to. Indeed, no one was even within earshot. So I went ahead and started practicing my piece, Bach Partita #3 Gavotte en rondo. I was a little self-conscious at first until I realized that no one was listening, no one was around, except for a piano teacher who was walking to her car and smiled at me. So, after about 45 minutes of pieces, scales, doublestops, and my two Hungarian dances I'm working on (#2 and #5), I declared my busking experience a success, got my practice done for the day and decided to do this from now on. The only worry I had was that I was standing under a tree which usually has birds chirping in it and I don't want to find out what happens to varnish in case of bird accident. Luckily for me, I think my playing drove them away and all was well.

6 replies | Archive link

More entries: November 2007 • February 2007