Weimarer Liederschule - Forgotten works in the Thuringian Regional Music Archive

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Pianist and song accompanist Teodora Oprişor and archivist Dr. Christoph Meixner talk about song composers, who worked in Thuringia. Teodora Oprişor decided to dedicate her final recital at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar to some of the musicians who lived here and had a major contribution to Weimar's musical landscape of the 20th century. So she did some research in the Thuringian Regional Music Archive in Weimar. "By programming songs of Hugo Wolf and Franz Liszt alongside those of Richard Wetz and Conrad Ansorge I wanted to prove that the nowadays forgotten music of the Weimar composers is not less worthy of being performed. These songs are very original, immensely beautiful and have a great power of expression within their miniature shape," Teodora says. "I am extremely grateful to Prof. Thomas Steinhöfel for the guidance of this project and for the endless inspiration during these years."
The recording of Teodora's Konzertexamen is published at https://youtu.be/4qpUyxgTrlM

The research covered the following composers:
Karl Goepfart (1859-1942) – composer and conductor who lived in Weimar. Student of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, composer of several operas premiered at the Court Theatre in Weimar.

Conrad Ansorge (1862-1930) – pianist, teacher and composer known in Europe and the United States for his Beethoven interpretations. One of the last students of Franz Liszt in Weimar between 1885-1886.

Gustav Lewin (1869-1938) – teacher and musical director of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar between 1901-1933. Due to his jewish background, he was excluded from society when the Nazi regime took over Germany and died in Weimar as a victim of the antisemitism.

Richard Wetz (1875-1935) – composer, teacher and choir conductor based in Erfurt. Music history and composition teacher at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar from 1920.

Teodora Oprișor was born in 1993 in Sibiu, Romania. She studied Bachelor in Piano Performance with Prof. Balázs Szokolay at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT in Weimar (Germany). During her time in Weimar, Teodora became very interested in poetry and decided to focus on the Lied repertoire, exploring the connection between music and literature ever since. She continued her studies with Prof. Michael Dussek and James Baillieu, pursuing a Master's Degree in Piano Accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music in London (United Kingdom). Back in Weimar, she obtained the Konzertexamen in Song Accompaniment from the University of Music FRANZ LISZT under the guidance of Prof. Thomas Steinhöfel, graduating with distinction in 2020.
Together with her duo-partner baritone Michael Rakotoarivony she has won several international prizes such as the 1st Prize at the International Student Lied Duo Competition in Groningen (Netherlands) in 2020 and 3rd Prize at DAS LIED Competition in Heidelberg (Germany) in 2019. The duo is also a laureate of the 2nd Royaumont-Orsay Song Academy and scholar of the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Weimar.

Further information about the Thuringian Regional Music Archive in Weimar: https://www.hfm-weimar.de