EVGENI ORKIN (*1977)
Mendele Lohengrin (2025)
A klezmer singspiel
Commissioned by the JCOM
Based on the story of the same name by Heinrich York-Steiner (1898)

JEWISH

A poor Jewish musician, who earns his living more or less by performing at weddings, fulfills a dream: he uses his hard-earned savings to pay a visit to the imperial court theater in Vienna. By chance - without any prior knowledge - he hears Wagner's Lohengrin. The opera changes his life: back in his shtetl, he only wants to play Wagner's melodies at Jewish festivals, no longer the traditional melodies - which naturally leads to a conflict.

TODAY

The questions that moved Mendele are ones we must also ask ourselves: "What does music have to do with the Jews or the Christians? [. . .] Is music kosher? Is a melody trefe? Do you have to salt and wash out notes? Do you have to shake a fiddle?"

Sexists, racists, anti-Semites: How do we experience art today whose creators had political or social views that we don't share?

FOR ALL

Heinrich York-Steiner wrote the entertaining story of Mendele in 1898, which JCOM brings to the stage with music ranging from Klezmer and Wagner to the present day: a charismatic actor and a captivating singer. Plus the colorful cast of JCOM under Daniel Grossmann. Funny, sad and thought-provoking moments. This can only be a successful evening!