Raphaël Jérusalmy

This beautiful Europa Edition is a novel written largely as journal entries. Otto is an old man, a music critic confined to a sanitarium with tuberculosis. As 1939 bleeds into 1940, his desire to take revenge on the Third Reich - not for their many horrendous crimes against humans (of which he is only somewhat aware, along with the rest of the population of Salzburg), but for their crimes against music. Against art. Against freedom of artistic expression. I'll say no more in order to avoid spoilers but this was a terrific and worthwhile read.… (more)

All credit to the author, Raphael Jerusalmy, for creating an unusual milieu in which to site his novella. A dying musician in a run-down Salzburg hospital in 1940 who confects his own protest at the degradations wrought on the great German composers by the Nazi machine. It is, at once, sad and triumphant, depressing and hilarious. Originally written in French, it shows no trace of translation (at least none I could detect). In a way it's a surprisingly sweet story, light and pleasing despite its context. At 124 pages it won't take you long to read either.… (more)

Told in diary form, this is the daily writings of Otto Steiner, a music critic of Jewish descent in Salzburg before the war. Otto is confined to a sanatorium due to TB. His one son has left for Israel and he is befriended only by Hans, a former assistant. Otto is appalled by the fact that Hitler and the Nazi are politicizing music. The music of Wagner is taking over what was a festival for Mozart. Otto writes about others in the sanatorium, what he hears about the Nazi cause, and his love for music especially the love of Mozart.

For some time, I wasn't sure where the story was going. It seemed an almost random selection of writings, but the story comes to a satisfying close as Otto is able to create a program of music for the festival. Hearing a dying man softly sing a tune that he is really not familiar with, he learns from an aide that it is a Jewish folk song. Otto cleverly works this folk melody into the official program. Only Otto and this aide are aware of the origins of the song which is performed in front of Nazi officials which greet it and clap to the rhythm.

A short book with a very satisfying ending.… (more)