Kolja Lessing (born 15 October 1961) is a German violinist, pianist, composer and academic teacher. His focus as a soloist and chamber musician has been the neglected repertoire by composers who were ostracised under the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

regime. His recordings include four volumes of works by students of

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conducting, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality ...

in his master classes in Vienna and Berlin. Lessing has taught violin at the

Hochschule für Musik Würzburg The Hochschule für Musik Würzburg (University of Music Würzburg) was founded in 1797 by Franz Joseph Fröhlich as Collegium musicum academicum (Academic college of music). From 1921 to 1973, it was named Bayerisches Staatskonservatorium der Mu ...

and the

University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssoh ...

, and has been professor at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart from 2000. He has been awarded numerous honours, especially for his dedication to the music of neglected composers.

Life

Lessing was born in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

. He received his basic music education from his mother. From 1978, he attended the violin

master class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

of Hansheinz Schneeberger in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

. There, he also studied piano with Peter Efler from 1979. He passed his concert examinations in 1982 and 1983. He also received formative impulses through his collaboration with

Berthold Goldschmidt Berthold Goldschmidt (18 January 190317 October 1996) was a German Jewish composer who spent most of his life in England. The suppression of his work by Nazi Germany, as well as the disdain with which many Modernist critics elsewhere dismissed h ...

, Ignace Strasfogel and Zoltán Székely. As a professor of violin, he taught at the

from 1989 to 1993, at the

from 1993, and followed a call to the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart in 2000. From 1998 to 2015, he was a regular guest lecturer at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Lessing has performed worldwide as a violinist and pianist, also giving musicological lectures and master classes at European and North American universities. Lessing has dedicated to wide-ranging repertoire, with a focus on works by composers who were ostracised under the

regime, including

and his circle of students. He revived stylistically different compositions for solo violin by Haim Alexander,

Tzvi Avni Tzvi Jacob Avni (first name sometimes spelled Zvi; he, צבי אבני; born Hermann Jakob Steinke, September 2, 1927; Saarbrücken) is an Israeli composer. Biography Tzvi Avni was born in Saarbrücken, Germany, and emigrated to Mandate Pal ...

, Abel Ehrlich,

Jacqueline Fontyn Jacqueline, Baroness Fontyn (born 27 December 1930) is a contemporary Belgian composer, pianist and music educator. She was born in Antwerp, and has received the title of baroness from the King of Belgium in recognition of her many artistic contri ...

, David Paul Graham, Ursula Mamlok, Krzysztof Meyer, Klaus Hinrich Stahmer, Hans Vogt.

composed a work for him that he premiered. As a violinist and a pianist, he premiered compositions including the piano concerto ''Rivages solitaires'' by Jacqueline Fontyn, Rudolf Hindemith's Suite, Ignace Strasfogel's ''A Child's Day'', the violin concertos by Haim Alexander, Sidney Corbett's ''Yael'', works by Abel Ehrlich and

Stefan Hippe Stefan Hippe (born 1966) is a German composer, conductor and accordionist. Life Born in Nuremberg, Hippe received his first accordion lessons from Herbert Bausewein in 1974 and his first composition lessons from Hans-Ludwig Schilling in 1981 ...

, Zoltán Székely's Allegro, ''A une Madone'' by Dimitri Terzakis, and ''Le Violon de la Mort'' by Grete von Zieritz.

Recordings

Lessing has recorded extensively both with violin and piano, including numerous first and complete recordings, also with a focus on neglected composers. He made a series of four CDs of music by composers who studied with Schreker, both as violinist and as pianist. * Johann Paul von Westhoff: Complete Suites for Solo Violin (Capriccio) *

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hi ...

: 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin (Capriccio) *

Ernst von Gemmingen Ernst von Gemmingen (11 February 1759 - 3 March 1813) was a German composer and aristocrat. Born in Celle, von Gemmingen attended the University of Göttingen. He was not a professional composer but was evidently a highly proficient musician. He ...

: Complete Violin Concertos (cpo) *

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and h ...

: The Art of Preluding, Op. 300 (cpo) *

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Leipzig University Church, as a professor a ...

: Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra, Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, cond: Christoph-Mathias Mueller (telos music) * Reger: Complete chamber music with Clarinet (Oehms) * Ignace Strasfogel: Complete Piano Works (Decca) * Franz Reizenstein: Solo Sonatas for Piano, Viola and for Violin (eda records)Kolja Lessing / Franz Reizenstein: Solo Sonatas

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

* ''Franz Schreker's Masterclasses in Vienna and Berlin'', vol. 1-4, with works by

Karol Rathaus Karol Rathaus (Karl Leonhard Bruno Rathaus; also Leonhard Bruno; 16 September 1895 — 21 November 1954) was a German-Austrian Jewish composer who immigrated to the United States via Berlin, Paris, and London, escaping the rise of Nazism in German ...

, Jerzy Fitelberg, Grete von Zieritz, Wilhelm Grosz, Vladas Jakubėnas, Berthold Goldschmidt, Zdenka Ticharich,

Kurt Fiebig Kurt Fiebig (29 February 1908 – 12 October 1988) was a German composer, church musician and professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Life and career Fiebig was born in Berlin as the son of a military musician. His parent ...

, Alexander Ecklebe, Felix Petyrek, ,

Leon Klepper Leon Klepper (24 April 1900 in Iași, Romania – 7 December 1991 in Freiburg Brsg., Germany) was a Romanian composer of classical music. Born to a Jewish family in Iași, Klepper studied in Vienna with Joseph Marx, in Berlin with Franz Schreker ...

and Isco Thaler (eda records)

Compositions

Compositions by Lessing are held by the German National Library, including: * Sonata for clarinet solo 1978 * Two duos for clarinet and violin: ''The Journey into the Unknown'' 1979, ''The Beauty of a Dream'' 1980 * ''Gliding Figures'' for flute and viola 1998 * ''Sinking Mists'' for flute and alto flute 1998 Lessing wrote

cadenza In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and ofte ...

s to Mozart's violin concertos K. 218 and K. 219, and to all violin concertos by

Awards

* 1999 , special prize for his commitment to ostracised Jewish composers * 2008

Deutscher Kritikerpreis Deutscher Kritikerpreis was a cultural prize awarded annually by the Association of German Critics (Verband der Deutschen Kritiker e.V.) from 1951 to 2009. This award was given for outstanding contributions in the fields of architecture, the fi ...

* 2015

Otto-Hirsch-Auszeichnung The Otto-Hirsch-Auszeichnung (since 2012 Otto-Hirsch-Medaille) was donated in 1985 on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the ministerial councillor and Jewish Nazi victim Otto Hirsch and is awarded annually by the city of Stuttgart together wit ...

of Stuttgart * 2020

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

for his merit for ostracised composers

References

External links