Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Worte

Description

Igor Levit releases a new album that constitutes his personal artistic response to the October 7 attacks against Israel and the current rise of antisemitism in the world. The album contains his selection of "Songs Without Words" by Felix Mendelssohn and ends with a prelude by the French Romantic composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. Igor Levit and his team donated their time voluntarily, and the album's proceeds will be donated to two German organizations fighting antisemitism: the OFEK AdviceCenter for Anti-Semitic Violence and Discrimination and the Kreuzberg Initiative Against Anti-Semitism.Igor Levit explains: "Making this recording came from a very, very powerful inner necessity. I spent the first four or five weeks after the October 7 attack being both speechless and completely paralyzed. And, at a certain point, it became clear to me that I had no other way to react than as an artist. I have the piano. I have my music. And in this way, the idea came to me to record these works, 'Songs Without Words,' and to donate the proceeds from these recordings to two wonderful organizations that work here, in my hometown, Berlin, to help people who are victims of antisemitism and also to help young people not fall into the clutches of antisemitism. This is my artistic reaction, as a person, as a musician, as a Jew, to what I have felt in recent weeks and months. Or, to put it more precisely, it is one of the many reactions that came to my mind." The CD is released by Sony Classical. Cover image by Markus Hurek.