The Jewish Kulturbund orchestra, conducted by William Steinberg, performed in this Frankfurt theatre, which was filled to capacity.
The Palestine Symphony Orchestra started under the direction of Bronislaw Huberman in 1936, recruiting European Jewish musicians, providing them not only a living wage, but a safe place to live far from threats in Austria, Germany, Poland, and Hungary. A core group from the Frankfurt Kulturbund voluntarily left Germany, including William Steinberg, to form part of the core of the orchestra in Palestine. William Steinberg accompanied Arturo Toscanini when the Palestine Symphony Orchestra launched. After a couple of years, Toscanini and Steinberg left for America, working for the NBC Orchestra. In 1948, the Palestine Symphony Orchestra became the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by prominent conductors such as Leonard Bernstein (1947-149; Laureate Conductor 1947-90) and Zubin Mehta (1968).
2 Comments
Yaron Toeplitz
October 19, 2020hallo !
My father , Erich Toeplitz, was a member of the Kulurbund Orchstra from 1934
to 1936 where he went to play in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
I would like to ask if you have any material about him or pictures of him from that time.
Thank you
Yaron Toeplitz
Gail Prensky
October 19, 2020Hi Yaron,
Is your father also called Uri Toeplitz? I interviewed Uri in Tel Aviv in 2004.