Wiegala–The Ilse Weber Project

An homage to German-Jewish composer and poetess Ilse Weber, who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt concentration camp for 2 years, where she served as the camp’s night nurse. She died at the age of 41 due to the harsh conditions. A sensitive lyrical voice that had a special love for children’s literature. Behind the naive form she hid startling truths about daily life there, whispering delicate melodies of freedom.
Ilse Weber’s works were first presented in Greece by the Gada quartet (comprising famous Greek soloists), adapted for Ottoman baroque instruments, saxophone, and mezzo soprano at the Rethymno Renaissance Festival and the Greek National Opera, following a proposal of GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis.
Weber’s original compositions converse with Sephardic lullabies from the Balkans, Roza Eskenazi’s drawn out amanes love songs, and scholarly central European compositions, reflecting their eclectic affinities and wealth of multicultural tradition. They find their “natural habitat” in Thessaloniki, as the city has always been a crossroads of south-eastern Europe.
Theresienstadt turned into a place of “musical resistance”, where terms such as art and terror, victims and heroes, took on new dimensions. On their side, Nazis supported such activities for propaganda reasons. The camp’s commanders, in fact, ordered organising special performances for a group of International Red Cross observers. In the context of their visit, a film was also presented: ‘The Fuehrer gives the Jews a Town’, where the camp was depicted as a “model ghetto”. However, after the committee left, most of the prisoners were murdered. The Nazis showed their true face.

Saxophone: Guido de Flaviis
Violone/viola: Dimitris Tingas
Ney: Achilleas Tingas
Mezzo soprano: Anastasia Kotsali
Lyrics translated by poet Maria Topali

Collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki