The Blogs: The Monrepos Open Air: A commentary

With tropical temperatures and humidity, sounds from across the Atlantic, and a jaw-dropping performance at the Monrepos Open Air during the Schlossfestspiele in Ludwigsburg, Germany, the evening was directed by the remarkable Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra. She swayed her baton jubilantly and struck memorable poses in her stylish black loose pants with stripes. Alondra de la Parra, who splits her time between New York and Berlin, is known for her collaborations with renowned orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic, and the BBC Philharmonic. Soon, she will assume her role as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of ORCAM, the Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid.

Approximately 7,000 people attended, with some in casual attire sitting on the lawn to enjoy a picnic, others dressed more formally, and quite a few visitors in wheelchairs. The experience was reminiscent of performances at the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, as well as the Waldbühne in Berlin, and even Cinema de la Plage in Cannes, along with other open-air events in renowned cities around the world. Many stayed until the end to watch the festival’s spectacular fireworks, which can be seen as a sister display to the 4th of July and Bastille Day, given that they all occur in the same month. The event concluded with an unexpected encore after the fireworks, not ending with the German “Krach,” but instead filling the air with lovely Mexican harmonies and rhythms, through the repetition of Arturo Márquez’s “Danzón No. 2.”

This encore seemed to resonate with the audience, perhaps reflecting broader cultural struggles. As someone who once considered California my ‘Wahlheimat’ (home of choice), I particularly appreciated Alondra de la Parra’s role not only as a conductor but also as a cultural ambassador for Mexican culture.

I was quite impressed with the event overall. It was my first time attending since I left Ludwigsburg in 1986, though I still visit occasionally to see family in town. The program could not have been better, with the first part of the evening focusing on British composers. It opened with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s ‘Prelude’ from the 1941 British war film 49th Parallel, which depicts a German U-boat crew stranded in Canada. The piece reflected great sensitivity to the human condition, with a majestic sound and a sense of longing and sweet sadness.

This was followed by Arthur Sullivan’s “Overture to the Pirates of Penzance” and Eric Coates’s second movement, titled “Westminster,” from the London Suite. The British portion of the festival was performed by the orchestra of the Goethe-Gymnasium in Ludwigsburg under the musical direction of Benedikt Vennefrohne and concluded with four contrasting movements, ending with the lyrical serenade III. “Un sonnet d’amour,” and the lively IV. “La tarantelle fretillante” from the Suite de Concert, Op. 77 (1911) by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a bi-racial composer who is little remembered today but was once a sensation, celebrated by figures like President Theodore Roosevelt and the British royal family.

However, the second part of the evening was particularly exciting for me. Let’s be frank: even in objective journalistic endeavors, there is always a hint of subjectivity, this goes the same for evaluating students’ papers, critiquing art exhibitions, hiring, or other assessments. Perhaps my preference for the second part stemmed from the excitement of seeing a woman lead the orchestra, it’s still more of a novel thing. And then there is my sense of homesickness for my once ‘Wahlheimat,’ Los Angeles. Knowing that Gustavo Dudamel, the Music & Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, and the future Music and Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic, had conducted several of the pieces, truly warmed my heart.

It immediately brought to mind his performances and the large banner of him hanging on the outer walls of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, a building I had followed from its early stages until its opening in 2003. I was also delighted by the selection of well-known pieces by composers from Romance language-speaking countries, including the lyrical and dramatic Tangazo by Astor Piazzolla and “The Love Theme” from The Godfather by Nino Rota. New to me were Oscar Lorenzo Fernández, José Pablo Moncayo, Mozart Camargo Guarnieri, and Carlos Chávez, contrasted with Johannes Brahms’s lyrically elegant and melancholic III. “Poco Allegretto” from Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90, which I thought added a nice touch to the overall repertoire. I appreciated the inclusion of Brahms’s music among the others, which may have inspired some of the other composers. This, in my view, was a thoughtful artistic choice.

Thus, thank you to Artistic Director Jochen Sandig and Executive Director Gabriele Zerweck, and my special thanks to Christine Diller from the press and marketing office of the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele.

However, I was saddened to learn that Sandig and Zerweck will be leaving the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele at the end of the season, and it seems that this was also the last Monrepos Open Air. This news was particularly striking given the recent sudden departure of Ellen Harrington, the former director of Frankfurt’s Deutsche Filmmuseum and a former museum curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. As a visitor to my home country, I wondered what is going on in the cultural sector in Germany. One can only speculate. It seems that financial issues played a role, possibly due to missed performances during the pandemic, mismatched colleagues, increasing costs of performers, and unpredictable weather—flooding, hail, and alternating rain and bright sunshine—which hindered selling all entrance tickets. The Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung reported that Zerweck might have opposed the appointment of Lucas Reuter as the successor Artistic Director of the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele. There also appeared to be resistance to a more progressive and international approach.

What was particularly shocking was an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine by Eva Maria Hagel, which described Ellen Harrington as having “moved in as a stranger and moved out as a stranger,” noting that she felt uneasy with her team. I believe that even if someone spends the first 20 years of their life in another country but lives in a new country for 50 years, they become a bi-cultural person, which I consider to be a positive attribute. This comment struck me as somewhat xenophobic. What did Frankfurt expect—to turn a person over 50 into a complete German after just six years?

Combined with other troubling developments in Germany, such as the purchase of the garage at Pirna-Sonnenstein—where T4-Euthanasia victims were once unloaded and sent to gas chambers—by a private investor who plans to convert it into apartments, and the mistreatment of a Jewish tombstone in Pforzheim (where blue paint was poured on it), as well as an article in the Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung about a teacher in Ludwigsburg omitting people with disabilities and mental illnesses when discussing Stolpersteine and the persecuted groups of the Nazi regime, I found these issues deeply concerning. This is especially personal for me as a sibling of a brother who suffered from epilepsy and intellectual disability. I had just discovered the Stolperstein of the 9-year-old Rolf Reichert, who was killed at Schloss Grafeneck in 1940, in the village where my parents live and my brother would have turned 54 today (July 26, 1970).

It’s one thing to lose a little brother, another to lose a little brother with a disability that excludes him from public schools and the cultural sphere his entire life, and yet another to lose a brother in a country where the state actively participates in the killing of his kind. The state believed, and still believes (because it never punished some of the Nazi doctors and nurses who participated in this crime), that my brother’s genes would degenerate the German gene pool, and I, as his sister, may be viewed similarly.

The German paper also reported on insufficient retirement funds, so that many people will have to rely on social welfare money and increased costs in nursing homes. Therefore, I truly hope that Germany will remain on the right path in all areas, prioritizing diplomatic solutions over financial investments in conflicts, to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

To honor all the persecuted groups of the Holocaust, I would like to share these links:

Mosaic of Victims: An Overview (USHMM)
Stigmatized Their Whole Lives Long (Arolsen Archives)
NS Euthanasia Documentation (Emilie Rau)
https://stolpersteine-ludwigsburg.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Stolpersteine24.pdf

Nonetheless, the Monrepos Open Air was a captivating blend of cultures and sounds, thoughtfully curated and brilliantly executed, leaving a lasting impression on all who attended. The unexpected encore, with its lovely Mexican harmonies and rhythms, resonated deeply with the audience, adding to the evening’s memorable experience. Thus, merci again and adieu, Ludwigsburg—until next time! And please allow me to shout out, Happy Birthday to my brother Jens! Castle Monrepos with its lake we also a place he used to visit.

I love you. I miss you. You’ll never be forgotten. Your life was so worthy of life.

Yours,
“Mo”

If you’re interested in reading about my latest adventure in Bagnoles de l’Orne, where I discovered the works of French artist Louise Barbu, keep clicking for more.

https://simonekussatz-arete.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-walkthrough-louise-babus-studio.html?view=mosaic

Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra at the Monrepos Open Air. Photo credit: ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra at the Monrepos Open Air. Photo credit: ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Alondra de la Parra at the Monrepos Open Air. Photo credit: Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra at the Monrepos Open Air. Photo credit: ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Jochen Sandig and Gabriele Zerwick at Monrepos Open Air. ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Audience Monrepos Open Air. Photo credit: ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Technical staff at the Monrepos Open Air. Photo credit: Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Audience at the Monrepos Open Air. Photo credit: ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz

Stolperstein for Rolf Reichert in Neckarweihingen – a victim of the T-4 program who was killed at Schloss Grafeneck.
Photo credit: ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz
Rolf was one and a half years old when he began suffering from seizures. His mother suspected a vaccination as the cause. As a result, Rolf lagged behind in his physical and mental development.

A photo of my brother Jens (blonde) at Monrepos, my older brother Thomas, Katrin, a friend (blonde hair), and my father. ARETE / Simone Suzanne Kussatz