Sandra Kreisler (Rezitation) & Naoko Christ-Kato (Klavier)

A poetic and highly atmospheric evening in which rediscovered piano works by the Dutch composer Rosy Wertheim are juxtaposed with selected poems by Jewish poets such as Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, Tamar Radzyner and Emma Kann.

The composer:
Rosy Wertheim (1888 - 1948) wrote music that was as lyrical as it was combative and multi-layered. She lived in Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna and New York and was one of the first Dutch female composers to achieve international success. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, she hid not only herself but also others, and survived. Scarce.

The women poets:
Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger did not survive the Shoa, Tamar Radzyner was dragged through several concentration camps and survived. Emma Kann is a new discovery; she was able to flee more or less in time and lived, almost blind, in several countries.
Three very different authors, one rather romantic, the second full of melancholy clarity, the third quite unruly.
And three very different lives, but all characterized first by hatred of the Jews, then by everyday patriarchy, which led to their works being forgotten more quickly than those of male poets.

The works of the three authors not only capture the music presented in emotional and apt words, they also form a bridge to today. A today in which we all fear that we will soon have to experience equally volatile times.

On this evening, performer Sandra Kreisler and pianist Naoko Christ-Kato trace the poetic vitality that arises from the tender yet tenacious devotion to art as a source and outlet.
The evening is not just a romanticized return to lost female artists; the music and texts also show Jewish female life worlds in an exemplary way in today's context.

The renowned pianist Naoko Christ-Kato has also recorded Wertheim's enchanting piano works on CD. (Available on the GENUIN label since Nov. 2025.) The majority are world premiere recordings.

Sandra Kreisler, who probably needs no further introduction as an acclaimed performer and interpreter, contributes the rediscovery of the deeply impressive Czech lyricist Tamar Radzyner (1927 - 1991), of whom only a small volume, self-published and long out of print, existed in Austria.
Emma Kann was only rediscovered last year by a small Baden-Württemberg publishing house. Only Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger - who died in a concentration camp at the age of just 18 - is already a little better known.