Christmas Exhibition
December 1954
“The happiest thought of the resurrected Munich Kunstverein is perhaps the occasional evening events, wherein the social and the artistic interpenetrate so intimately, and the works of art on display are irradiated by the warm glow of an elated interest. On Wednesday evening there was chamber music; the large hall was densely packed, and it is safe to say that not ten people from this large audience would have gone to the Kunstverein for the sake of the exhibition - all the more surprised and appreciative everyone enjoyed the Christmas exhibition during the music and during the extensive intermission.
The dazzling flutist Lu Lehnstaedt and the gentlemen Schwinn, Soldner, Zagrosek and Krahmer (oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon) first played a quintet by Anton Reicha (1770-1836), which by economy and characteristics of instrumentation perhaps surpassed even Beethoven's resplendent Quintet op. 71, which made the conclusion of the program. In between there were Jacques Ibert and Maurice Ravel and as the highlight of the evening in world premiere ‘Five Biciniums’ for voice and flute by Kurt Brüggemann. A bicinium (few people except the author will know this) is a two-part short movement. Käte Jordan (mezzo-soprano) sang vocally and musically enchantingly and with her fine facial expressions also stimulated the visual artists. Her virtuoso, even refined singing and speaking technique ensured the work a radiant success, equal to the serene and witty style of the work.”
(Peter Trumm in the Münchner Merkur of December 10, 1954)