A concert full of hope against hate
Iván Fischer’s appearance in London is part of a wider examination of the rise of anti-semitism, writes Margarette Driscoll
As principal conductor at Berlin’s Konzerthaus and founder of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer is used to performing in the world’s grandest concert halls, surrounded by ornate plasterwork, acres of gold leaf and plush, velvet seats. In one of his recent venues, however, he and his fellow musicians had to sweep and dust before donning their black tie.
They were playing in a derelict synagogue in rural Hungary, which had been empty ever since its once-thriving Jewish community was deported to the death camps in the final throes of the Second World War – one of a series of concerts over the past three years in such ruined buildings, which are both a tribute to the dead and an elegant protest against the rise of far-right politics in Hungary and beyond.
“In a town called Papa, the building was empty, with all the glass in the windows smashed and birds flying in and out. Another synagogue had become a table-tennis club – we had to remove the tables in order to play.
“I can’t deny it has been emotional,” says the conductor. “In Albertirsa, a tiny community, our concert was the first public event to be held in the building in 70 years. In Mád, the building where we played was in perfect condition because it was looked after by a caretaker, a Christian man in his 70s. He told us his father had worked for Jewish employers who had been very kind to his family and when they were sent to Auschwitz, he had decided to look after the synagogue in remembrance.”
On Tuesday, Fischer, 67, will be giving his commemorative concert – including pieces from Felix Mendelssohn and improvisations of traditional Klezmer music – in London, at the invitation of Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger, whose congregation at the West London Synagogue is twinned with Budapest. The conductor arrives at a moment of uncertainty in both cities.
The small Jewish community in Budapest (which survived as the deportations were stopped before they reached the city by the approach of the Russian army) is not under direct threat, but wary, as Viktor Orbán’s anti-immigration Fidesz government deepens its control of civil society and the press. George Soros recently announced that he would close his Open Society Foundation in Budapest as a result of draft legislation that “would dramatically restrict the activities of civil society in Hungary”.
The Central European University, founded by Soros, is considering a move to Vienna as Fidesz seeks to restrict its ability to hire lecturers from abroad and provide education to migrants. Here, the row sparked by anti-semitism in the Labour Party continues to smoulder, with the resignation of former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and last week’s warning from the departing president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush, that if Jeremy Corbyn were to become prime minister his “anti-semitic, problematic views” could drive Jewish people out of the UK. Attacks on Jews in France have been profoundly unsettling and Jewish schools and synagogues routinely employ security.
As a prelude to the concert, Neuberger is organising a panel discussion featuring Fischer alongside writer David Aaronovitch and Dave Rich, an expert on anti-semitism in Europe.
She had hoped to include MP Luciana Berger, whose moving speech earlier this year about the anti-semitic abuse she has received was met with applause from members on all sides of the house, but she has had to pull out because of Tuesday’s Brexit vote.
“It’s a chance to look at whether what’s happening in the Labour Party is part of a much bigger phenomenon,” says Neuberger. “What is this about? What does it feel like, what is going on? In Hungary, it [anti-semitism] is in the far-right, but in France it’s far-right plus a bit of far-left. Here it seems to be just in the Labour Party, on the far-left. It was there in the days of Militant and it’s reappeared with Momentum.”
Neuberger, who sits as a crossbencher in the Lords, attended the rally against anti-semitism in the Labour Party held outside Parliament in a group of around 15, mostly non-jewish, peers: “There were – I presume – Momentum activists calling the non-jewish people class traitors. Well, what’s that about? Does it mean you are not allowed to say something has gone very wrong in the Labour Party? That feels like Stalinism. I grew up in the Labour Party, my mother was very Left-wing, but my parents would be turning in their graves.”
She is glad to see the back of Ken Livingstone, though his resignation means he will not be part of the investigation into Labour activists accused of anti-semitism, which is supposed to be completed by July. “He ought to have been expelled but he’s gone. Good. That’s better than him not going,” says Neuberger. “It’s true that they can’t really carry on investigating him and expelling him if he’s not there, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other people. Plenty of them. People will say it’s criticism of Israel, but hang on: it is entirely legitimate to criticise Israel. What is not legitimate is to question Israel’s right to exist.”
Corbyn’s behaviour has been simply baffling, claiming that he expressed support for a street mural by Los Angeles graffiti artist Mear One – depicting a group of rich, elderly (and big-nosed) bankers playing a board game balanced on the bent backs of the poor – on the basis of free speech.
“It was absolutely disgusting, the sort of classic stuff you might have seen in Der Stürmer (Germany’s Nazi-supporting tabloid newspaper). He either didn’t look at it, in which case why was he raising the issue? Or he did look at it and just couldn’t see it. And the question for me is why can’t he see it? Is it that he doesn’t want to? Or is his world view so imbued with that idea of capitalism and Jewish financiers that he can’t see it’s deeply anti-semitic? Either way, it ain’t good.”
All this and more promises to be aired at Tuesday’s discussion before debate gives way to Fischer’s haunting melodies. Proceeds from the concert’s tickets sales will help fund the continuation of his abandoned synagogues tour. His own grandparents were among the half a million Jews in Hungary transported to the death camps – his grandmother to Auschwitz, his grandfather to Buchenwald – so he shares with many who have come to listen the experience of losing family or friends. One woman flew from Australia to be at a concert in her home village.
At each Hungarian concert – played by half a dozen or so musicians from the Budapest Festival Orchestra and attended overwhelmingly by non-jews who may have lived near a synagogue for years without ever going inside – a rabbi briefly tells the story of the building and the Jewish community who once lived there. At the end, members of the audience are asked for any memories they have of their former friends and neighbours.
“The concert is free, it is a gift to the local people and, though some of the stories we hear are heartbreaking, my experience is that these are extremely happy and harmonious events,” says Fischer. He hopes his music will promote tolerance – not just in Hungary but here, too.
To book tickets for £30, go to ticketsource.co.uk/wlsevents or call 020 7535 0259 (Tuesday to Friday)
‘Though some of the stories we hear are heartbreaking, these are happy events’