Songs For Eternity

On the 27th of January 2015, the day of the liberation of Auschwitz 70 years ago, I was in invited to sing songs from the ghettos and concentration camps. At this commemoration of the Holocaust in Rome, I was introduced to Francesco Lotoro who has dedicated his life to the research of songs and music written in the concentration camps. There is a huge collection and it needs to be remembered for eternity.

Especially as a postwar German native, married to a Jewish man here in New York for 20 years, I am eternally sensitive and tortured by the history of the Holocaust. It is my responsibility and utmost ethical longing to honor the culture of the Jewish people and stimulate the dialog about the terrible past. This is a mission that I had adopted already in 1987 when I became the protagonist of the big recording series on DECCA ‘Entartete Music’ that presented the Jewish composers and their music catalog banned by the Nazis. With SONGS FOR ETERNITY, this mission continues and finds its most touching extention.

My research continued and I was overwhelmed by the stories behind each of the songs written in the ghettos and concentration camps. I finally studied a most unique book, a song collection by Vevel Pasternak from 1948, that gathers heartbreaking songs from the ghettos and concentration camps, as well as the songbook of Ilse Weber, finally published by her husband in Israel in the 90’s long after he survived Auschwitz. Both music collections were given to me by my dear friend Orly Beigel, who is half Mexican, half Israeli, and the child of a Holocaust Survivor.

The video below showcases some exerpts from a live performance of ‘Songs For Eternity’:

The following videos from a concert filmed by RAI in Mantova, Italy:

Reviews and Articles related to ‘Songs For Eternity’:

Ute Lemper: “Il mio recital per le vittime della Shoah” from La Stampa, Milano (30 May 2017)
Ute Lemper: “Canto i lager dei nazisti e la tragedia della guerra”
from Il Giorno, Milano
(30 May 2017)
Lieder von Verzweiflung, Grauen – und Hoffnung – from Recklinghäuser Zeitung (28 May, 2018)
Schmerz ist Teil meiner Nationalität – from Die Presse am Sonntag (27 May, 2018)

Shoah ieri, migranti oggi. Ute Lemper canta per gli invisibili from affaritaliani.it
(26 May 2017)
Ribellione e speranza nelle canzoni dal lager
from Corriere Della Sera (May 24, 2017)
Ute Featured on Robert Elms’ BBC Radio London show – from Robert Elms’ BBC Radio London
Ute Lemper’s songs from the soul – from Jewish News Online (18 May, 2018)
“The Jewish Views” including Ute’s upcoming JW3 show – The Jewish Views (17 May, 2018)
Songs written in ghettos and concentration camps – from The Watford Observer and Borehamwood Times (7 May, 2018)
Singing the songs that the dead left behind – from The JC (6 May, 2018)
“A Zumer Tog” – Ute Lemper auf der aspekte-Bühne – from ZDF (6 May, 2018)
Hoffnung, aber nur im Traum – from Frankfurter Rundschau (6 May, 2018)
‘It’s my mission to sing songs written during Holocaust’ – from The Evening Standard (1 May, 2018)
„Wir müssen uns kümmern“
from Frankfurter Rundschau (12 April, 2018)

Work by Jewish Holocaust victims lives on in Ute Lemper’s ‘Songs for Eternity’
from Washington Post
(Feb 3, 2017)
Last Musik at Center for Jewish History Program
(Apr 6, 2016)
Last Musik at Center for Jewish History Poster
(Apr 6, 2016)
Gazetta di Mantova (Apr 19, 2016)
La Voce di Mantova (Apr 19, 2016)
Gazetta di Mantova (Apr 20, 2016)
La Voce di Mantova (Apr 20, 2016)
Ute Lemper on Preserving the Music of the Holocaust (WNYC)
Last Musik: note di sopravvivenza (VNY)
RAI News 24
Uncovering the Music of the Holocaust (JW Magazine)
‘Songs For Eternity’ Concert Review (blogcritics)
La tournée della musica dai lager (America Oggi)
Qui New York – Ute, il canto per non dimenticare (moked.it)
Ute Lemper to Perform Works Written in Concentration Camps for LAST MUSIK (www.broadwayworld.com)

On April 6, 2016 Ute presented ‘Songs For Eternity’ at the Center for Jewish History in New York City:

Above:  Ute is pictured with (from left to right) Daniel Hoffman (violin), Victor Villena (bandoneon), special guest star David Krakauer (clarinet) and Francesco Lotoro (piano). Photos courtesy of CJH