A theatrical presentation of the life and music of Gideon Klein. (A Performing the Jewish Archive event)

Written and devised by David Fligg

Performed at Holy Trinity Church, Leeds, 1 June 2016, as part of the 'Out of the Shadows: Rediscovering Jewish Music and Theatre' festival in Leeds and York.

On 27 January 1945, the young Czech Jewish composer Gideon Klein was murdered by the SS in an Auschwitz sub-camp. Prior to that, he was imprisoned in the Terezín (Theresienstadt) concentration camp, where he was at the centre of a unique array of musical and cultural activities.

Though his activities there are well documented, little has been known about his life in Prague before the war. Using actors and musicians, Gideon Klein: Portrait of a Composer draws on recently-discovered archival material and personal testimony, much of it never before having been presented in public, to portray, for the first time, his pre-war life. It is an intimate, poignant, and at times humorous account of artistic and Jewish life in Prague immediately before, and during, the German occupation, and of Gideon’s struggles to survive imprisonment.

Cassia String Quartet

With students from the Department of Theatre, Film & Television, University of York:

Rachel Astall, Emma Whitworth, Angel Lloyd, Rory Oliver

The Music:

Gideon Klein - String Trio

Gideon Klein - Duo for violin and cello

W.A. Mozart - String Quartet in G major K387 (movements 1 & 4)

Paul Hindemith - String Trio No. 1 (1st movement)

Leoš Janácek - String Quartet No.1, ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ (1st movement)

The performance was preceded by a pre-concert chat in which actress and playwright Vanessa Rosenthal hosted an audience with Terezín survivor Zdenka Fantlova, who knew Gideon Klein.