Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Cellist who survived Auschwitz because she played cello in the camp orchestra; later a distinguished member of the English Chamber Orchestra.
On the island
Eight records
String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, 'Death and the Maiden' (2nd movement)
I remember with special affection uh Schubert's Death and the Maiden and uh how I loved playing the cello variation in the slow movement.
Don Giovanni (Act II, Hell Scene)
It brings back wonderful memories of Daniel Barn Bohm in Edinburgh. I was so unbelievably impressed by it. It is the most wonderful piece of music.
St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (Chorus: 'Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder')
Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Karl Richter
To me the Matthew Passion with Karl Richter is the most impressive among the hundreds of Matthew Passions that I've played. And I chose this particular chorus because to me there is so much consolation in that music
Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10 (Moto Perpetuo)
English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Britten
I remember particularly recording the Frankbridge variations. And that we recorded the Moto Perpeto in one single take, which is totally unheard of.
Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 (2nd movement)
Jacqueline du Pré, New Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim
I used to be a regular visitor to Jacqueline Dupre when she was very ill and we always used to play records when I sat with her and it was always a Schumann concerto.
Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22
English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Kubelík
Professional musicians very rarely play things for fun, and I shall never forget that. It was so wonderful to play something just for fun, with Kubelik, who is such a wonderful conductor.
Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 (1st movement)
Raphael Wallfisch and Peter Wallfisch
I've chose the Brahms F major sonata played by uh my husband and my son.
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 (2nd movement)
It was one of the last things he did before he had a stroke and could no longer play.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:17It's a simple truth, isn't it, Anita, that if you hadn't played the cello, you wouldn't be here today?
Yes. ... We were needed at the time. They wanted an orchestra, so they needed the people who played in that orchestra.
Presenter asks
3:29How did you feel when you played for such people [like Dr. Mengele]?
Do you know, I don't think we gave ourselves time to feel anything.
Presenter asks
5:44Why on earth didn't [your father] organize you all out of there?
Well, I think the fact that he was a lawyer was a very great hindrance because for a lawyer it is very difficult to emigrate with a family of three children. What are you going to do in a foreign country where you haven't studied the the law of that country?
Presenter asks
10:13What were your first impressions of Auschwitz, Anita?
The keepsakes
The book
J. M. Roberts
I thought to take a history of the world. By J. M. Roberts. So I might catch up with a little bit of my general knowledge.
The luxury
I was going to take um bag of Ines number three because I love gardening and some seeds, but then somebody said, Well, I suppose something will grow on that island anyway, so I don't bother and I think I'll have to take the cello.
People in black capes and dogs barking. And a lot of noise, screaming. And a horrendous smell.
Presenter asks
20:41And yet you've called those [Lüneburg] trials a huge farce. They made you very angry. Why?
Because you can't apply the concept of British law to things that happened there. ... We were talking about millions of murdered people. I mean, I stood in that uh witness box and I felt like a liar because I couldn't say at what time so-and-so had killed somebody else.
Presenter asks
30:06What's happened to that hatred [of the Germans] with the passage of time?
I think one has to be a bit careful with hate. I'm a very positive person anyway. I wasn't going to let the Germans who have destroyed my family destroy me. ... And if you have this poison of hatred in you, you it's it's totally destructive. So I can't say that I hate the Germans when I can't possibly hate somebody who was born in nineteen forty-five.
“It was an escape somehow into excellence.”
“I think one of the ingredients were of survival was to be with other people. I think anybody on their own really didn't have a chance.”
“I think this is the most frightening thing about the whole event, is that you don't have to be a monster to be able to descend to that sort of depth.”
“I think the only way to perhaps make it uh understandable is for people to identify with people who were in it and tell the tale.”