Beth El Congregation Presents Felix Mendelssohn Bicentenary Recital on Sunday, October 25 at 4:00 p.m. The recital, which will take place at Beth El Congregation, marks the the bicentenary birthday of the famed composer Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847). The concert will feature Beth El’s Cantor Thom King joined by pianist Rachel Franklin, cellist, Beth El member Evan Drachman and violinist Keng-Yuen Tseng as they explore Mendelssohn’s remarkable life in music and words. This recital is presented without charge to the entire community.
Mendelssohn’s life and career provides an insightful window to the Jewish condition in early modern Europe. His grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, was a leading figure in Judaism’s response to the challenges of the Age of Enlightenment, and its controversial debates over the Jewish future in modern Europe. Felix's father Abraham was instrumental in establishing the Mendelssohn banking house, which held a politically central role in European finance until its liquidation by the Nazis in 1938. Felix himself was one of the great musical figures of the 19th century. Equally brilliant as a composer, a conductor, and a pianist, Felix could only realize his musical ambitions at the expense of his Jewish identity. It took his conversion to Christianity to open the professional doors, eventually becoming the first great director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Even so, Mendelssohn never fully transcended his Jewish heritage and identity. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Mendelssohn monument was destroyed in 1938, an early victim of formal Nazi anti-Semitism.
This program is sponsored and supported by the Margot Music Fund. Please contact Rabbi David Greenspoon for more information at david@bethelbalto.com or 410-484-0411.    |
