BERG Orchestra – The City Without Jews

Silent expressionist film from 1924 with live music performed by the Berg Orchestra.

The famous utopian novel The City Without Jews received its film premiere in October 1924,
and exactly one hundred years later, the premiere of a new, expanded version of the film
with music by Peter Wajsar will take place.

Petr Wajsar – piano & live electronics
BERG Orchestra & Peter Vrábel – conductor

The Berg Orchestra is an excellent Czech ensemble specialized in the performance of
contemporary music. Since its inception it has commissioned and premiered more than two
hundred new works. In 2021, it won the prestigious Prix Italia award for the Czech Republic
for the first time in more than half a century.

6:15pm Accompanying event with guided tour in Czech – Bubny Memorial and other places
(only with the concert ticket, beginning: Studio Hrdinů)

The City Without Jews / Hans Karl Breslauer / Austria 1924 / 80 min. – The City Without
Jews is a 1924 Austrian expressionist film by Hans Karl Breslauer, based on the book of the
same name by Hugo Bettauer (1922). In Austria, a Christian party wins the election and the
new chancellor, a rabid anti-Semite, passes a law that all Jews must leave the country by the
end of the year. This is greeted with cheers by the non-Jewish population and the Jews do
indeed leave. But then it is discovered that there are no theatres to play in, the cafés are
empty, the economy and especially business is dying, companies are leaving for Prague or
Budapest, inflation and unemployment are rising.

video excerpt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDXjYX1cSSA