NZSM violist to give German premiere of Holocaust work

Professor Donald Maurice has been invited to give the first performance in Germany of Requiem 'The Holocaust' by Israeli composer, Boris Pigovat.

It is the feature work on 15 October at the final gala concert of the International Viola Congress in Wuerzburg, in which Maurice will be soloist with a Duesseldorf orchestra. The performance will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre in Kiev in September 1941, at which over 34,000 Jews were executed in just two days. The Requiem was composed by Pigovat in memory of those victims, which included some of his own relatives.

Wuerzburg is a poignant city to stage the performance of Requiem 'The Holocaust'. Near the end of the Second World War, 90% of Wuerzburg was destroyed in 17 minutes by British Lancaster bombers and the central city, dating from medieval times, was razed in a firestorm. Over the next 20 years, the buildings of historical importance were painstakingly and accurately replicated. Avi Primor, president of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, and a former Israeli Ambassador to Germany has been invited to host the concert.

Donald Maurice gave the first performance outside the Ukraine of Pigovat's Requiem 'The Holocaust' in 2008 with the Vector Wellington Orchestra, a performance that was recorded and released on CD by Atoll in November 2010 to critical acclaim. He also gave a second Wellington performance last month on the actual 70th Anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, Thursday 29 September 2011, as part of the NZSM Orchestra's In Remembrance commemorative concert. This concert also featured Inbal Megiddo, Israeli cellist and NZSM lecturer, as soloist in Bloch's Schelomo; Luminous by John Psathas and Remember Parihaka by Anthony Ritchie adding to the concert's theme of 'facing conflict through music.'

Of that performance, John Button reviewing for the Dominion Post comments that Maurice 'who ... gave a searing performance in 2008, now plays the work with even greater security, and the [NZSM] orchestra under Ken Young was marvellous intense, unanimous and full throated.'

Garth Wilshere writing for the Capital Times agrees: 'It was moving then but had even more assurance and heartfelt intensity in his solo viola lines this time with the orchestra really digging in to give wonderfully committed support.'