On 12 October the day when composer Arthur Lourié passed away 50 years ago, the foundation named after him organizes a big commemorative concert at Schmiedenhof Zunftsaal - Basel. The program is split between pianists Moritz Ernst from Germany and Borislava Taneva from Bulgaria. The Bulgarian is a researcher and promoter of Lourié's work. She is a performer, piano pedagogue and Vice Rector of the National Academy of Music in Sofia.  

Naum Izrailevich Luria was born in 1892 in Russia but few know him by this name. On the eve of the 1917 October Revoluition he adopted the Catholic Christian faith and changed his name to Arthur-Vincent Lourié. The revolution changed dramatically the fates of all people of art united with the name of Russia's Silver Age. Lourié was not among emigres; he chose to stay in Russia and dedicated himself to the communist ideas in art. Talented and honest however, he was soon aware that he had made a grave mistake. He fled to the West, while in Russia everything related to him was destroyed. Who are the people who try to recover his works - here is more from Prof. Taneva:  

“They are not many, and most of them must be enthusiasts like me. The foundation aims to collect everything left from the composer's legacy. Its chairman Stefan Hulliger has been touring Russia and Europe in search of works. For example, there is a Third Sonata for Piano, and it could be that First and Second Sonatas will never be recovered. I myself had heard nothing of the composer until 8 years ago. There was almost nothing to find online either. I play his works - from Five Fragile Preludes opus 1 to the Beschwörungen written shortly before he died. They differ largely in terms of expression and mood. Arthur Lourié was of Jewish descent and before World War 2 emigrated once again - to the United States where he died. He is a genius and I can prove that - he made use of aleatory music and dodecaphony long before the innovators from the Second Viennese School in Europe.  

Russian singer Anna Miklashevich will also join the concert in Basel, Earlier, on 7 October in Sofia Prof. Taneva will perform ten works by Lourié dedicated to personalities he was close with - Picasso, James Joyce, Vladimir Horowitz and others. The project's title is „Arthur Lourié - the torn page from the history of the Silver Age” and its premiere was at Piano Extravaganza 2015 festival. The songs sung by Mila Mihova are on lyrics of Anna Akhmatova. The great Russian poetess and Lourié had a passionate love affair and remained in touch exchanging letters after they had parted. The two died the same year. “I selected pieces dedicated to great personalities, friends and co-thinkers of Arthur Lourié to make clear he would have been as famous had his political orientation not thrown its killing shadow on his life”, concludes Prof. Borislava Taneva.   

English Daniela Konstantinova

Audio file: Music by Arthur Lourié in the rendition of Prof, Borislava Taneva

1. Five fragile preludes

2. Song on lyrics by Anna Akhmatova (Taneva jointly with Mila Mihova)

3. Toccata

4. March