This compelling survey examines the remarkable relationship between the Nazis and classical
music through the stories of musicians composers and conductors across the political
spectrum. May 1945. A Soviet military patrol searches Hitler’s secret bunker in Berlin. They
find bodies documents jewelry paintings—and also an extensive collection of 78 rpm records.
It comes as no surprise that this collection includes work by Beethoven Wagner and Bruckner.
The same goes for a procession of other giants promoted by the Nazi regime: It seems as if the
Nazis put a steel helmet on Mozart girded Schubert with a saber and wrapped barbed wire
around Johann Strauss’s neck ” composer Robert Stolz once said. But how is it possible that
Hitler’s favorites also included forbidden” Jewish and Russian composers and performers? While
Hitler sat secretly enjoying previously recorded music in his bunker musicians made of flesh
and blood were denied a means of making a living. They died in concentration camps or in other
war-related circumstances. They survived but ended up in psychiatric care they managed to flee
just in time they sided with the regime—out of conviction or coercion—or they joined the
resistance. From fiery conductor Arturo Toscanini who defied Mussolini and Hitler to
opportunistic composer Richard Strauss and antisemitic pianist Elly Ney who collaborated with
the Third Reich to varying extents and for different reasons Fred Brouwers profiles the
complex figures of this extraordinarily fascinating chapter in music history.
