Testimonies – Contemplating a photo from long ago…
One picture in my photo and paper archive dedicated to my mother Silvia Șerbescu that I particularly cherish shows her wearing my favourite dress – black satin and tulle fitted with coloured flowers and which she had bought in Paris – and sitting like a queen in front of a concert grand piano, with the orchestra and the conductor turned towards the audience and posing.
The picture was taken on the occasion of the concert Mother gave on November 9, 1937 in Timișoara, when she played, with Societatea Amicii Muzicii [Society of Friends of Music] conducted by Friedrich Pauck, Liszt’s first piano concerto, in a musical evening organised by tireless manager Bruno Brauch, pharmacist and double bass player (last row, second from the left).
Trying to find out the exact location of the event, I read the five detailed reviews in the local press, but they only mention the “Theatre Hall”. What I did find out was that there was a great demand for dedicated articles in 1930s Timișoara – and this says quite a lot about the city’s cultural life!
As natural in a multi-ethnic environment, one of the reviews is from a Hungarian-language newspaper (Deli Hirlap), two are in German (Banater Deutsche Zeitung and Temesvarer Zeitung), and two in Romanian, by, respectively, composer Filaret Barbu and composer and teacher Alma Cornea-Ionescu. In his extensive piece for the Temesvarer Zeitung, titled Symphoniekonzert der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde [Symphonic Concert by the Society of Friends of Music] Gabriel Sarkany writes:
The evening’s soloist Sylvia Serbescu was a pleasant surprise, and we recognised in her a wonderful pianist […] The artist, who will bring future honour to our country, rewarded the ovations with a spectacular concert etude by Liszt.
Bruno Brauch, not just the impresario that had proposed this Bucharest pianist as yet unknown to Timișoara audiences but Mother’s friend too, was overjoyed with her success, as evident also in his letter dated November 20, 1937. A Mahler aficionado, he would invite her to his house to introduce her in the world of his idol, and I remember Mother telling us about the new and exciting discoveries she had made because of Mr Brauch –we mustn’t forget that it was the 1930s and the 1940s, when the Nazi had banned all music by composers of Jewish origins…
Liana Șerbescu
