Going Digital against oblivion - tribute to the murdered composer Viktor Ullmann
75 years ago, the composer Viktor Ullmann was murdered in Auschwitz. The Siemens Arts Program wants to keep alive the memory of Viktor Ullmann, representing numerous artists who were expelled and murdered by the National Socialists. We hope that Ullmann's music will be (re)discovered by many people all over the world. Therefore, we have started an audiovisual art project with the pianist Annika Treutler and the media artist Alexander Stublić.
"My aim is to make Ullmann’s music as highly regarded and as well-known as the work of those of his great contemporaries who were not persecuted. The work deserves it! In his music, Ullmann developed a very special language and a tonality all his own,” said Annika Treutler in tribute to the composer.
Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) is an Austrian composer, conductor and pianist.
Because of the Jewish origin of his parents, Ullmann was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942, where he created a large part of his works. There he composed for example "Der Kaiser von Atlantis" and "Die Weise von Liebe und Tod". On October 18, 1944, Ullmann was killed shortly after his arrival in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Stephan Frucht (artistic Director of Siemens Arts Program) says about the project: "January 27, 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust remind us that remembrance can never be complete. At the same time, it is an obligation never to silence those voices that were not allowed to express themselves during their lifetime or that could no longer express themselves. This also includes many Jewish artists who were never able to fully develop their creativity because they were denied the freedom to create art. This fate of many great artists from the visual arts, who were branded "ostracized", was also shared by important musicians and composers, including Hans Krása, Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein and Viktor Ullmann, all of whom fell victim to the Nazi regime."
Siemens Arts Program has made a new recording of Viktor Ullmann's Piano Concerto Opus 25 (composed in 1939) together with pianist Annika Treutler. This is the first recording of the work in 3D audio format.
The production was realized under the direction of Stephan Frucht (Artistic Director Siemens Arts Program) with the Deutschlandfunk Kultur and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin in the large broadcast hall of the RBB in Berlin. Prof. Thorsten Weigelt (Universität der Künste Berlin) and the 3D-Immersive Audio Specialist Stefan Bock (IAN Munich) were in charge of the recording.
The new recording - consisting of an audio CD and Blu-ray - contains not only the Piano Concerto Opus 25 but also Ullmann's Piano Sonatas No. 3 (1940) and No. 7 (1944), which Annika Treutler recorded in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche in Berlin-Dahlem. The album release is on January 31, 2020 on the label "Berlin Classics" (Edel).
Piano works by Viktor Ullmann
A CD review by Julia Spinola
(rbb Kultur)
The freedom of the arts and sciences is one of the cornerstones of democratic societies. As an innovative company committed to progress and innovation, we consider it our natural duty to protect and nurture this freedom.Prof. Dr. Stephan Frucht, Senior Vice President Culture and Sponsoring
A lab of ideas for creativity and change
Arts and culture are a vital driving force for exploring identity, creativity and self-reflection. The Siemens Arts Program builds bridges between disciplines, enabling the company to discover new ways of thinking through new experiences. As a creative department within Siemens AG, we see our role as that of mediator between the worlds of art and business. In an open and impartial way, we engage with future challenges from an artistic and cultural perspective so that we can actively shape transformation and change in line with our corporate values.
The Siemens Arts Program does this by creating innovative projects with prominent individuals and institutions from the arts and culture scene. The aim is to encourage collaboration - both personal and thematic, involving creative actors, artistic excellence, and innovative institutions - with our company. The opportunity to participate in the creative process is a key criterion for project selection and management in the Siemens Arts Program. Our aim here is to unleash a powerful inspirational force. Our projects also have a broad relevance and serve as a model within the company.
In a nutshell
In 1987, Siemens AG launched the “Siemens Kulturprogramm” (Siemens Cultural Program) with the aim of developing a specific cultural program for the company. Starting from internal cultural activities, it developed into a well-known and versatile international program for the promotion of contemporary art and culture in the early 1990s. This company-owned cultural institution implemented initiatives on its own initiative in addition to traditional sponsoring. In 2015, the Siemens Arts Program was relaunched under the artistic direction of Prof. Dr. Stephan Frucht.
The Team
Prof. Dr. Stephan Frucht, Artistic Director Siemens Arts Program, Senior Vice President Culture and Sponsoring
Anke Bobel, Project Management
Andrea Clarén, Project Management
Katia Ernst, Trainee
Martina Heindler, Project Management
Julia Ripke, Working Student
Rebeca Williams, Organization & Projects
Press Contact: Konstanze Somborn, Yashar Azad
The Siemens Arts Program has a delivery role and does not consider applications for funding from third parties. Engagement with arts and culture is expressed through its own projects and interdisciplinary partnerships. Starting a corporate collection in the conventional sense is not a stated aim of the Siemens Arts Program.
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