All through M. O. W.

The Polish-Jewish composer Józef Koffler was a professor of atonal harmony and composition at the conservatory of the city of Lemberg / Lwów, which became part of Poland after the First World War. In 1932, he composed ALL THROUGH M.O.W., in which the desires and longings of customers of an internationally operating dating agency called M.O.W. collide. In the first half of the 20th century, Lviv was a melting pot of Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish and German cultures, reflecting the changes and conflicts of the 20th century like no other city. Lviv enjoyed an exciting cultural life, which came to a terrible end during the Second World War and the Holocaust. Józef Koffler was murdered by the German occupiers in 1944. The world premiere of ALLES DURCH M.O.W., which combines twelve-tone music with operetta sounds and jazz rhythms in a virtuoso and uninhibited manner, did not take place. The original score was lost, but a piano reduction survived. Johannes Schöllhorn, Professor of Composition at the College of Music in Freiburg, has been commissioned by Theater Freiburg to create a new score based on this as the basis for the overdue premiere, which is now finally taking place. Józef Koffler's ALLES DURCH M.O.W. will be combined with texts by the Polish-Jewish lyricist Debora Vogel, who lived in Lwów / Lemberg at the same time as the composer, was murdered by the Germans like him and was subsequently almost forgotten. It was only a few years ago that Debora Vogel's extraordinary poems and text montages were rediscovered. The world premiere will also be complemented by Johannes Schöllhorn's composition SPUR, which he dedicated to Józef Koffler - both works will be conducted by Friederike Scheunchen. With this interdisciplinary homage to Freiburg's Ukrainian twin city Lviv and its eventful history, artistic director Peter Carp bids farewell to the Freiburg audience at the end of his last season.