Deutsche Opera Berlin Announces TISCHLEREI Concert

Deutsche Opera Berlin presents Tischlerei concert on March 21st at 8 pm, a memorial concert for Alfons Hirsch, Max Nelken, Kurt Oppenheimer and Ernst Silberstein.

In the chamber concert series "Against forgetting" , members of the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin commemorate musicians who were banned from their profession during the National Socialist era, had to emigrate or were killed in the extermination camps. The evening tells their lives and stories using pieces of music and personal documents. The actress Margarita Broich will read , moderation: Benedikt Leithner , solo timpanist in the orchestra.

On January 13, 2019, Wladyslaw Waghalter, Max Rosenthal, Werner Lywen and Hans Kraus were commemorated in a first concert, on March 21 at 8 p.m. the life and musical work of Alfons Hirsch, Max Nelken, Kurt Oppenheimer and Ernst Silberstein will be presented center of the evening. We cordially invite you today!

Alphons Hirsch 06.10.1892 - 12.03.1990

Alphons Hirsch had been a member of the orchestra's viola section since 1921. His release in 1933 was delayed because he was subject to the "frontline fighter regulations" for former soldiers of the First World War that initially applied. Since his wife Eva Hirsch was a Swiss citizen, they both managed to escape to Geneva in 1938. Alfons Hirsch played there in the "Orchestre de la Suisse Romande" until 1958.

Max Nelken February 8, 1881 - deported to Minsk on November 14, 1941

Max Nelken had held a position as second violinist since the opera house was founded in 1912. He also worked as a violin teacher at the Sternchen Conservatory. He was deported to Minsk with his wife Edith Nelken on November 14, 1941. There he was probably either murdered in mass killings in July 1942 or died earlier as a result of the poor living conditions.

Kurt Oppenheimer 01/01/1890 - April 1945

Kurt Oppenheimer had been a member of the first violins since 1912. During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin, he was a prizewinner of the renowned Joseph Joachim Foundation. His release was also delayed due to the "frontline fighter regulation". From 1937 he worked as a violin teacher at the Jewish music school in Holland. In June 1941 he emigrated to Uruguay. There he became a member of the Montevideo Symphony Orchestra, with which he also performed as a soloist. After a serious illness he died in April 1945.

Ernst Silberstein 10/15/1900 - 09/26/1985

Ernst Silberstein became deputy cellist in the orchestra in 1923 and first solo cellist in 1925. In addition to his work as an orchestra musician, from 1929 he was the cellist in Karl Klingler's famous string quartet. After his dismissal from the opera in 1933, thanks to the support of Karl Klingler, Ernst Silberstein was able to perform in chamber concerts with the quartet until early 1936. When he was also forbidden to do so, Silberstein emigrated to New York in April 1936. There he worked from 1937 in the NBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Arturo Toscanini and at the Metropolitan Opera before George Szell brought him to the Cleveland Orchestra as principal cellist in 1947. He remained there until his retirement in 1967 and also taught very successfully at the Cleveland Institute of Music until 1975.