The Esche villa –A home to life and to art ... - ClassicalCDs.net

The Esche villa –A home to life and to art
Nunquam retrosum – never returning. This is the motto of the successful
Esche family- owned textile business in Chemnitz, originally from Limbach.
Herbert Eugen Esche, born in 1874, was true to his ancestor’s motto: he
left the industrial town during the political unrest in the aftermath of 1945,
and never returned.
Esche’s years in Chemnitz, in particular those spent with his wife Johanna
before 1911, were without doubt the happiest of his life (he died in 1962).
The villa on Parkstraße was built in 1903, extended in 1911, and from
1998 to 2001 completely reconstructed. Today it is mainly used for public
events.
THE ESCHE VILLA: A COMPLETE WORK OF ART
Herbert Eugen Esche as a young man took advantage of the unique
opportunities which his everyday environment and successful textilemanufacturing
business offered him. He went to Shanghai and New-York,
visited San Francisco, travelled around the United States and lived in
Paris for a few years. These years of wandering laid down the foundations
of his activity at the top of his ancestors’ business. In 1898, back from
France, he joined the textile manufacturing business.
Herbert Eugen Esche and his wife Johanna were married in 1899. During
the first years of their marriage, they lived on the premises of the plant in
Chemnitz. In their first house, the Esches already had furniture designed
and made by the Belgian craftsman Henry van de Velde in Brussels
(1863-1957).
In 1900, Johanna and Herbert Esche’s first child, Hans-Herbert was born.
The second, Erdmute Margaret, followed in 1904. In the same year, the
whole Esche family moved to the villa in Parkstraße, in the southwest area
of the town. In this world dominated by art, Henry van de Velde designed
everything from the dinner service to the garden furniture, including the
wallpaper, the lamps, every piece of furniture, and even the family’s
insignia. Everything originated from his workshop.
Not only did Van de Velde work on the villa, he, his wife Marie, and their
five children, were also close friends of the Esche family. When they
moved into the villa, the Esches' happiest years began. The villa became
the stage for the whims of a cultivated, intellectual and successful
entrepreneurial family.
The Esches also counted painters amongst their circle of frien ds: Willy
Jackel (18 88-1944), Alfred Partikel (1888-1946) and Ivo Hauptmann
(1886-1973 ), to name but a fe w. The visit of the Norwegian painter an d
graphic designer, Edvard Munch, wa s an event of a grea t importance for
the Esche household. Munch’s po rtraits of children in particular
persuaded Johanna Esche to invite the artist to Chemnitz in 1905 in order
to have he r own children portrayed. Munch’s stay in Chemnitz was vivid ly
described by Ivo Hauptmann:
Esche invited Munch [Esche’s wife Hanni wrote to him first, however her
letter remained unanswered] One day(…) a telegram came through the
post: “Will be in Chemnitz tomorrow Munch”. (…) He arrived without any
luggage wearing a waterproof jacket over an old suit. Nothing with which
he could paint. Mr. Esche, welcomed the artist in his lovely house, and put
at his disposal a sitting room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. On the bedside
table stood a bottle of cognac for the artist to refresh himself during the
night, and every morning it would be empty. (…)
Three weeks went by without any change occurring. (…) Then suddenly,
Munch asked where he could buy differen- sized canvas stretched over
frames, paint, brushes, turpentine, and an easel in Chemnitz. (…) He
painted Mrs Esche, her husband, their two children together, and the
children on their own [(Note) only Erdmute was painted on her own] so
that within eight days, five or six paintings had appeared [(Note) He

painted seven portraits and a landscape], some of them pure
masterpieces.
The context in which Munch’s paintings came into the hands of the Esche
family is quite interesting. The Esches obvious affluent conditions enabled
them to live in cultured luxury, rather than to indulge in a tendency of
exaggerated self-portrayal. All the same, the Esches put at the disposal of
the “Private Collection Exhibitions”of the “Chemnitz Art Hut” paintings of
Edvard Munch (Trainsmoke, 1910 and Portrait of Lady, 1905) Vincent van
Gogh (Harvest in Provence, 1888), Willy Jaeckel (Child Portrait, 1915) as
well as other paintings from their private collection.
After a few years, the bustling and carefree gatherings that took place
within the family and their larger circle of friends, came to an abrupt end.
In 19 11, Johann a and Herb ert Esche had been married 12 years, wh en
33 ye ars old Hanni Esche died in the Italian Bozan o from ton sillitis. From
one d ay to the next, the couple’s shortlived happ iness was over. Herb ert
Esche was to su ffer the rest of his life from this terrible stroke of fate.
From 1939 onwards, the events of the Second World War were starting to
be felt in everyday life. The plant only manufactured a small range of
products, and many employees had to be made redundant. In the last
years of the war, Chemnitz was heavily bombarded and in part even
destroyed. The oldest section of the plant’s production building itself was
heavily damaged. The oldest section of the factory was heavily damaged,
and had to continue operating in this state until the end of the war.
Meanwhile, the valuable machinery and the fully stocked warehouses had
to be protected against plundering.
NUNQUAM RETROSUM- THE YEARS AFTER CHEMNITZ
In the summer of 1945, Herbert Esche was turned out of his house by the
occupying Soviet forces. The villa became the Soviet troups’ Chemnitz
headquarters . In the autumn of 1945, Herbert Eugen Esche left Chemnitz,
by then a pile of rubble, with the help of his son in law, C.J. Luchsinger, to
go to his brother in law, Theodore Koerner in Siegsdorf in Bavaria. In
early 1946, he moved on to Constance. At the end of 1946, Herbert Esche
reached the final destination of his flight from Chemnitz: he arrived in
Kusnacht on Lake Zurich. There he lived with his daughter’s family until
his death.Not far from Kusnacht, also lived his frien d Henry van de Velde.
The latter had left Germany in 1917 and had been living in Switzerland
since 1947 . During the 50s he worked hard at his memoirs, in which the
Esche family was mentioned. Ve ry soon the two were in touch again, for
van de Velde wish ed to find out more about the work he ha d been
commission ed with on the house fifty years back. They met regularly in
Oberageri.
After having left Chemnitz in 1945, Herbert Eugen Esche never returned
there. He died in 1962 at the age of 88, in Kusnacht, near Zurich.
In 1997, Regula Luchsinger, Herbert Eugen Esche’s granddaughter,
helped set up the “Herbert-Eugen-Esche Foundation”. The Zurich
Kunsthaus houses the foundation’s pièce de résistance in the Tobler villa:
the dining-room as it stood in the house in Kusnacht, with five of Munch’s
paintings.
Tilo Richter
ARNOLD SCHÖNEBERG’S PIANO WORKS
In Schönberg’s work catalogue “th e piano composition hold an important
place, as they stretch over five collections: the opuses 11,19,23,25 and 33
(a and b), three of which are of considerable size. These collections give
very precise information on their author’s aims; each one describes an
important step in his writing and his thoughts, and if considered as a whole,
they show some kind of parable of development, which has at it’s peak
Opus 23. Opus 11 and 19 aim at denying tonality vocally as well as
formally. The explorations of vocabulary intensify in Opus 23, in which the
first twelve tone composition is to be found. Opera 25 and 33 fall back on
classic forms in order to support the moving morphological construction.”

(Pierre Boulez, 1958)
Schö nberg wrote the thre e piano piece s op. 1 1 in 19 09. With the
seco nd string qua rtet, a nd the fiftee n poems from o p. 11 immedia tely
paving the way, the work on „Th e Eman cipatio n of dissonan ce“ beg an.
This work lead to the no te orgies of atonality, and finally deve lopped
into Schö nberg’s method of “composing with twelve notes which are
related only to one another“.
Without doubt, the ductus of Brahms’ piano phrase can be found in the first
piece. A four voiced thematic lyric is also recognisable down to the last
details of Wagner’s motif formation in „Tristan“. This melodic phrase of
moderate tempo is set against lively passages, in which swift and
enmeshed series of notes chase each other. The sound given off by the -
as of yet unheard - piano flageolets is remarkable. As with the first piano
piece, the second also calls for a moderate tempo and is played over a
long stretch of time. Here, a foretaste of what will be vigorously presented
in the next piece, seeps through, as though Schönberg did not yet dare to
express it. For, at this point, the door of atonality and athematism has
opened. This is not to say that the note denies it’s connection to other
notes, nor that the musical theme gives up it’s functional meaning, but
rather that a profusion of thematic materials are pressed together into a
recitative over a small amount of time.
During the year 1911, Schönberg worked on the opera “The Lucky Hand”,
this was also the year he wrote the song “Herzgewächse op. 20”. The “Six
little Piano Pieces op.19”, which he composed at the same period, offer an
unusual contrast to the first two pieces mentionned above. Schönberg
managed to grasp the “Kleinform”, which his student Anton Webern (1883-
1945), had already included in many of his creations.
These piano pieces are moreover the shortest and most concise among
Schönberg’s musical compositions. Devoid of repetition, the pieces are
mainly confined to an intimate tonality reflecting conscious reserve and
concentration. The very sensitive, very slow last piece, in which the main
chording is reminiscent of a death knell, was created as Schönberg lay
under the strong influence of his benevolent patron and dear friend,
Gustav Mahler’s (1860- 1911).
The „Fifth piano piece op. 23“ published in 1923, shows that Schönberg
had reache d one of the most important phases of his musical
developmen t. Fo r a pe rio d of a lmost e ig ht ye ars he h ad pu blished
no th in g, ho we ve r th ese yea rs of silen ce we re to pro ve to be of
grea t me aning for h is ne xt crea tion . Opus 23 is the first result of a long
searching, thinking and trying out process of every newly created
compositional method using twelve notes. Speculative thinking and
practical experience in relation to the requirements of free tonal
construction were behind the established methods. Thus, the first four
pieces of the cycle already put forward a far-reaching approach to the
principle of „twelve notes“, whilst the closing „Waltz“ composed in 1922/23
really demonstrates the use of the new technique in systematic form.
The third and fourth piece are particularly noteworthy. In the third piece, a
sequence of five notes („series“) takes on a generalizing structure of
formative character and creates all the piece’s harmonic and melodic
contours due to different metamorphoses in the series. For the first time
this „serial technique“ will be used consistently, even if using five notes
only. As for the fifth piece, it is first of all b ased on a series of all twelve
notes, but it o nly uses these in its basic fo rm, which means that the
melod y is in no way altered.
Compa red to this the “Piano suite op. 25“ published in 1 924 is a classic
of th e twelve n ote technique. For the first time, the structures of all
phrases are unanimously produced out of a single basic series of twelve
notes and the note-sequence may be used in its original form, or in
inverted, retrograde, or retrograde inverted form, and each of these forms
may be transposed to any pitch, whilst retaining the „superiority of a milder
method“ (Schönberg). Formally, Schönberg chose to use the tra ditional
dance genre of the Baroque Suite in the reverse order. Pierre Boulez

wrote: „Na turally, none of the se forms were slavishly borrowed from
tradition, rather they experie nced an undeniable revival; yet- the
rhythmical Schemata, which cre ate the sharpest con tours, are those
which ignite the conflict between new Speech and old Form“. Hanns Eisler
(1898-1962) suggested that with regard to the dichotomy between Form and
Speech, Schönberg was convinced that if given a choice of method, he
could play with the same abundance and unity that was characteristic of the
old masters. Most critics, provided they took Schön berg at all seriously,
described the S uite as be ing simply old-fashioned; the fact that the use
of th e serial technique led inevita bly to an aesthetic break, was
recog nised but by few.
The piano pieces op. 33. a and 33. b. were published by two different
houses and differ only in the presence of a letter next to the opus number.
Both were written whilst he was working on two stage performances, the
two operas „From Today till Tomorrow“ and „Moses and Aron“. Opus 33 a
(1928) clearly follows the sonata form using a first supporting theme, then
a second vocal theme. The construction process was interesting:
Schönberg used a series, in which „the reversal of the first six notes
resulted in a deeper fifth of the six remaining notes. The following phrase,
from the seventh to the twelfth note, is another sequence of the next six
notes. „The advantage in this, is that one can accompany the melodic
parts from the first six notes through the harmony of the second sequence
of six notes without any repetition resulting from it“ (Schönberg). Opus 33 b
(1931) is Schönberg’s most extensive work. It is founded on the basic
form of the series and on its transposition by a fourth.
Rudolf Nötzel
VLADIMIR STOUPEL, Pianist
Pianist Vladimir Stoupel has received the highest praise throughout the
world for his virtuosity and for his extensive and diverse repertoire. His
interpretations are special, lucid and infused with a deep musical ethos.
His concert engagements reflect his increasing stature as a significant
pianist. In 2003 Mr. Stoupel received the “Preis der deutschen
Schallplattenkritik”, the highest German award for the best CD.
Mr. Stoupel’s recent accomplishments include performances with the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Christian Thielemann),
Gewandhausorchestra (Leopold Hager), Norddeutsche Philharmonie
(Michael Jurowski), Orchestre de Bordeaux, Deutsches Symphonie-
Orchester, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Marcello Viotti), Orchestre
National du Capitole de Toulouse, Berlin Symphony (Lior Shambadal),
Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Berlin (Marek Janowski), Scharoun-Ensemble
Berlin, Munich Symphony, Russian State Orchestra, Slovenia Radio-
Symphony-Orchestra (Gunther Neuhold), Bayerischer Rundfunk (Peter
Rundel), Staatskapelle Mainz (Marie-Jeanne Dufour) and other European
and American orchestras.
In addition, Mr. Stoupel is much in demand as a chamber musician. Every
year he returns to the chamber music series of the New York Philharmonic
at Merkin Hall and at Avery Fisher Hall. He has often collaborated with
famous opera singers, such as baritone Wolfgang Brendel, mezzosoprano
Elena Zaremba and bass Evgeny Nesterenko. His performance
of the Shostakovitch Michelangelo Suite with Mr. Nesterenko in Graz
(Austria), broadcast by the European cultural channel ARTE, was
considered a great success. In 1997 Mr. Stoupel recorded several piano
works by Felix Mendelssohn for a TV production, Peter Ustinov’s
Mendelssohn. This film has been distributed and broadcast throughout the
world. In 2001 Mr. Stoupel recorded in concert for auris subtilis the
complete works for piano by Arnold Schoenberg. Together with violinist
Anna Rabinova, Mr. Stoupel recorded sonatas for violin and piano by
Schubert and Brahms for NHK-TV (Japan). For auris subtilis, this duo
recorded works for violin and piano by Schumann, Brahms and Dietrich.

In Europe Mr. Stoupel has premiered many works by distinguished
composers such as Benjamin Lees, Sofia Gubaidulina and Galina
Ustvolskaia.
Mr. Stoupel is a frequent participant at the major festivals, such as Berliner
Festwochen, Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo, Piano aux Jacobins, Sofia
Music Weeks, La Grange de Meslay, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and
Helsinki Festival. At the Piano en Valois Festival, he played the whole cycle
of Scriabin’s sonatas by heart in a single performance. In 1999 Mr. Stoupel
founded his own Summer Music Festival in Brandenburg (Germany).
A native of Russia, Vladimir Stoupel was born into a musical household,
grew up in Moscow and began to play piano at the age of three. At twelve
he gave his first recital and three years later he debuted in the Great Hall
of the Moscow Conservatory, playing the Tchaikovsky First Piano
Concerto. At the Moscow Conservatory he studied piano with Evgeny
Malinin and conducting with Gennady Rozhdestvensky. His most
significant teacher was the famous Russian pianist Lazar Berman, who
gave Mr. Stoupel lessons for almost five years.
In 1984 Mr. Stoupel came to France, where he soon established himself
by performing at major concert halls and festivals. In 1988 critics praised
his first CD recording of Shostakovitch as a “creation of a new high
standard in the interpretation of this composer.”
Presently Vladimir Stoupel resides in Berlin, Germany.