Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
RAANANA, Israel (AP) — In 1933, a promising young Jewish violinist named Ernest Drucker left the stage midway through a Brahms concerto in Cologne, Germany, at the behest of Nazi officials, in one of the first anti-Semitic acts of the new regime.
Now, more than 80 years later, his son has completed his father's interrupted work.
With tears in his eyes, Grammy Award-winning American violinist Eugene Drucker performed an emotional rendition of the Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77, in Israel. He says he thinks the performance would have given his late father "a sense of completion."
Thursday's concert, and a second performance Sunday night, commemorated the segregated federation of Jewish musicians in Nazi Germany.
At its height, thousands of musicians, theater actors and other performers took part, including some of Germany's most notable artists. But as Nazi ideology took deeper root, greater restrictions were imposed. Eventually, many of the musicians went underground or fled, like Drucker's father, who went to America.
The elder Drucker died in 1993.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
