A Night In Vienna with Gottlieb Wallisch: Three Viennese Composers

The Leo Baeck Institute New York and Elysium – between two continents are excited to welcome the established Austrian pianist Gottlieb Wallisch for an enchanting evening dedicated to the rich musical heritage of early 20th-century Vienna.

This recital features a remarkable selection of works by three distinguished composers: Arnold Schönberg, the groundbreaking innovator of modern music; Egon Wellesz, one of Schoenberg’s earliest and most passionate scholars; and Wilhelm Grosz, one of the most versatile talents known for blending classical and jazz influences.

Join us for a captivating program that includes Wellesz’s evocative Der Abend, Schoenberg’s iconic Klavierstück, op. 11/2 (arranged by Ferruccio Busoni) and Grosz’s impressive Symphonic Variations.

Program:

Egon Wellesz (1885-1974): Der Abend, op.4

1. Pastorale
2. Angelus
3. Dämmerstunde
4. Wind auf der Heide

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951): Klavierstück, op.11/2 (arr. Ferruccio Busoni)

Wilhelm Grosz (1894-1939): Symphonische Variationen über ein eigenes Thema, op. 9

In the season 2024-25, we are commemorating anniversaries of two Viennese champions of 20th century music: Arnold Schoenberg, the "Godfather" of Modern Music, who would have turned 150, and Egon Wellesz, one of his earliest and most affectionate scholars, who died in Oxford in 1974. Wellesz's first cycle for piano solo, "Der Abend" (1909/10), shows various stylistic influences, with scents of fin de siècle and impressionism. Schoenberg’s Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11, have reached an almost iconic status in the piano literature, being an outstandingly expressive and cogent example of the master’s atonal phase. Here, the rarely heard "concert version" by Ferruccio Busoni of the second piece is played, over which a lively debate developed between the two eminent composers in 1910.

Wilhelm Grosz was born in Vienna, also studied composition with Franz Schreker. He later settled for four years in London in 1934 and arrived in the United States in 1938. His musical path has taken quite different directions than the two others’, and his enormous talent is reflected in his activities as a composer, pianist, arranger, conductor, and music producer. In the early 1920s, he was among the first Austrian composers to incorporate jazz idioms into his works. The Symphonic Variations, Op. 9 from 1920, are a monumental piece that combines a post-Mahlerian musical language with highly imaginative pianism.

Gottlieb Wallisch is currently recording Grosz's Complete Piano Music for Grand Piano Records, with the first CD released in November 2024 to great critical acclaim.

This event will be held in person at the Center for Jewish History. If you cannot attend the live event, it will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube.

Born in Vienna, Gottlieb Wallisch first appeared on the concert platform when he was seven years old, and at the age of twelve made his debut in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. A concert directed by Yehudi Menuhin in 1996 launched Wallisch’s international career: accompanied by the Sinfonia Varsovia, the seventeen-year-old pianist performed Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto.

Since then Wallisch has received invitations to the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, the NCPA in Beijing, the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Festivals of Lucerne and Salzburg, December Nights in Moscow, and the Singapore Arts Festival. Conductors with whom he has performed as a soloist include Giuseppe Sinopoli, Sir Neville Marriner, Dennis Russell Davies, Kirill Petrenko, Louis Langrée, Lawrence Foster, Christopher Hogwood, Martin Haselboeck and Bruno Weil.

Orchestras he has performed with include the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Festival Strings Lucerne, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra in Budapest, the Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra in Los Angeles, and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.

In 2012 Steinway & Sons added his name to their roster of Steinway Artists. In 2010 Gottlieb Wallisch became the youngest professor at the Geneva University for Music; the Berlin University of Arts (UdK Berlin) named him professor of piano in 2016.

His recording catalogue features a vast repertoire, ranging from the Complete Beethoven-Piano Concerti on period instruments to the ongoing series “20th Century Foxtrots“ for “Grand Piano“, which presents forgotten piano music from the Jazz-era of the 1920ies and -30ies. Re-discovering the works of ostracized composers is another field of Gottlieb Wallisch’s artistic work, documented by world premiere recordings of Jaromír Weinberger, Hans Gál, Eric Zeisl and presently Wilhelm Grosz.

Host or Publisher Leo Baeck Institute and Widen the Circle