Mendelssohn- Newsletter of the Foundation and Association July/August 2013 No. 38 Dust and jack-hammer create new things Contents page 2 Preface page 3 Progress: the extension of the museum pages 4/5 Mendelssohn, the European page 6 Mendelssohn and Switzerland page 7 Museum concerts Competition Jugend musiziert pages 8/9 Cooperations page 10 News page 11 Festival and Festive Concert page 12 Master classes 2013 page 13 Garden concerts page 14 News from the Association page 15 Names, Dates and Facts page 16 Further important information p. 2 Preface C’est le lieu, Monsieur. director started successfully and became internationally renowned after a few decades only, as is proved by the high amount of foreign students at the end of the 19th Dear members, supporters and friends century. Thus even today Mendelssohns impact can still be recognized in many ways. During the recent years the Mendelssohn House has undergone a considerable development with regard to Yet, how often do you find a preserved historic its events and its impact in Germany and abroad. Instead habitation that mirrors its famous resident’s personality of pointing out our achievements ourselves each time, so clearly? Indeed, only a few exist, for instance the we would like to yield the floor for an internationally expe- Goethe House in Weimar, the Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth rienced longtime member of the friends’ association: and of course the Mendelssohn House Leipzig. In the museum’s entrance area a goodly number of distinguished visitors is listed. Here the intellectual THE Mendelssohn HOUSE – giants met in the house of a great intellectual for spiritual A JEWEL OF LEIPZIG, THE CITY OF MUSIC exchange. And even the modern visitor feels involved, in a manner of speaking. Here you can commemorate A definitely personal view Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy at the place of his death and, in the adjoining room, contemplate and marvel at the Those who, like me, grew up in a family of musicians water-colours from the genius’ last journey to Switzer- in Vienna, naturally have many encounters with places land in 1847, which reflect his enormous creative power. where great musicians have lived and worked. A documentation of his life, designed with loving attention to detail, provides the opportunity to refresh or extend When I came to Leipzig after being away from my one’s knowledge. Though having visited the place many home town for many years, I got the impression of an in- times, I still feel it‘s attraction time and again. herent musical culture for the first time again. This musical culture is perceptibly rooted both in the awarness of the This reminds me of an encounter in Cluny several general public and in the concreteness of the numerous years ago: I got into a conversation with an elderly cleric musical sites and buildings. I sensed that an important and expressed my disappointment about the ruinous cultural development had occurred here. It is by no means condition of the abbey church. His short and friendly the great Johann Sebastian Bach only who lived and reply was: “C’est le lieu, monsieur. (It is the site per se, worked here – the “Prachtkerl”, like Felix Mendelssohn Sir)”. These words sort of apply to the Mendelssohn House, Bartholdy, co-initiator of the Bach monument, used to too. Fortunately it was preserved. call him reverentially. Not to forget that the greater part of the city’s publishers, including important music Roland Baldini, June 2013 publishers, significantly influenced intellectual life in Germany for hundreds of years. Even Ludwig van Beet- hoven, living far away in Vienna then, published quite a few of his works in Leipzig. Prof Roland Baldini was born to an Austro-Italian The highly-cultured and widely travelled Mendelssohn family of musicians in Vienna. He studied music in briefly and memorably described the spirit of a city of Vienna, Salzburg, Bern, Siena and Trieste and finished culture in a letter to Klingemann, prioritizing the cosmo- his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He pursued politan Leipzig over Berlin. an international career as musician, teacher and juror. Starting in 1994 he has been teaching at the Mendelssohn confided in the distinct Leipzig public Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn spirit – the basis for, by way of example, the formation of Bartholdy Leipzig for 18 years. Now he teaches at the the Gewandhaus orchestra by culturally involved Music Academy Katowice (Poland), where as of October merchants in 1743, while, as head of the Gewandhaus 2014 he will hold a position as professor. orchestra, advocating for a betterment of his musicians’ As early as 2002 he became a member of the friends’ situations. association of the Mendelssohn House. For even a longer time he has guided music loving visitors of A further achievement of Mendelssohns’ was founding Leipzig to the Mendelssohn House – the site that is very the first German conservatory in 1843, a century after dear to his heart. the formation of the Gewandhaus orchestra. The conser- vatory with its outstanding staff and Mendelssohn as Proceedings in the Museum p. 3 About the Expansion of the Museum in the Mendelssohn House On 3 February 2013, just in time people are extended as well to make Anybody interested in a tour of for Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s the museum even more attractive the building site may apply. We will 205th anniversary, the partly new for nursery and school classes, and gladly fix a date for a small tour at museum, which will by then be exten- to provide sort of a discovery area times when it is safe for groups to ded to the ground floor, will be inau- outside the historic rooms on the visit the site. gurated. To date the museum includes ground floor of the former coach house the actual appartment, i.e. the genuine where a special room for educational Construction work is proceeding: rooms in which the composer and his offers will be set up. the bottom picture shows a draft of the new ent- family lived until his death. Here the rance area including counter, shop and a comfor- spirit of the 19th century can be ex- The implementation of these new table lounge to linger and browse through books perienced, especially during the and indispensable ideas is supported available in the shop of the museum. Sunday concerts and other events by the Federal Department for Culture The library section is shown in the picture above on the left. Here books, sheet music, and audio- that take place in an intimate familiar and Media (€ 750.000) and the City visual information on Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy atmosphere. of Leipzig (€ 500.000). The Felix- will be provided. The picture aside shows the cur- Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Foundation rent state of the corridor – a lot has changed here The modernization of the ground has to make use of own resources already – the flooring is renewed, the old doors are reconditioned and reinstalled. floor is meant to help protect and to the extend of € 250.000 for this Currently workers are bustling about of the so- conserve the unique staircase and, wonderful project. called Effektorium, where the next steps will be most urgently, to improve the com- taken. fort and the quality of experiences Despite the flood that afflicted for our modern visitors during their Saxony and some of its craftsmen stay. Adjacent to the larger entrance again, work is preceeding uninter- area including an ample cloak room rupted. Painters, carpenters, brick at the front end of the house, a big- layers, electricians and flooring tech- ger shop with an extended product nicians are streaming in and out of range will be set up. Furthermore the house continually. there will be interactive media, for instance a library with, amongs others, Some rooms are already painted, audio and video material, offering the meter by meter of cable are laid for opportunity to concern oneself with the supply of the Effektorium where Mendelssohn‘s personality, his work visitors will be concerned with and life. Furthermore there will be Mendelssohn’s music in the future. the so-called Effektorium which will impressively illustrate Mendelssohn‘s work as conducter of the Gewandhaus orchestra. Here the visitor will have the opportunity to become acquainted with working with an orchestra. A new showcase displaying exhibits like for instance original documents accor- ding to the principle of a paternoster will be installed, too. Additionally, an outline of the changeful history of the Mendelssohn monuments completes the extended exhibition. The historic part of the muse- um, that is the Mendelssohn family’s former appartment is kept in its original shape. Thus the Sunday con- certs will of course be continued. Beyond the exhibition, the educa- tional offers for children and young p. 4 Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Paris Dr Susanne Wasum-Rainer, the Mendelssohn Bartholdy – the popular Ambassador of the Federal Republic Sonata in D major for violoncello and of Germany in France, hosted an- piano opus 58 MWV Q 32 – and by other concert for the Felix- César Franck, likewise a Sonata for Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Foundation in violoncello and piano. her residence on 27 March 2013. This continued the longstanding tradition The music and speeches of the of Embassy concerts in Paris. evening passed too quickly, but the guests once more took home not In her internet welcoming text only beautiful memories, but also when she assumed her present enthusiasm and concrete arrange- position, she addressed the friends ments for further projects. The of Franco-German links and stressed proceeds from the concert went to the importance of these. “The rela- support the work of the Felix- tions between Germany and France are Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Foundation.