Karlrobert Kreiten
One of them, Karlrobert Kreiten (born in Bonn in 1916), was murdered by the Nazis because of private political statements. The other, Manfred Reinelt (born in Leipzig in 1932), committed suicide in the GDR in 1964. Both were extremely talented young artists who were destined to play an important role as pianists in the music history of the 20th century.
1943 “executed”
Karlrobert Kreiten grew up in Düsseldorf, where he made his first public appearance at the age of ten, playing solo pieces by Mozart and Schubert. He studied at the Cologne Music Academy under Professor Peter Dahm, who was clearly an excellent teacher, as Karlrobert made such great progress that he won awards at important competitions (in Vienna and Berlin in 1933). The music world and critics had long since become aware of his great talent.
From 1935 he studied in Vienna with Hedwig Rosenthal-Kanner, the wife of the famous Liszt student Moriz Rosenthal, then moved to Berlin in 1937 to study at the “Stern Conservatory” with Claudio Arrau (1903-1991), who described Kreiten as “one of the greatest piano talents I have ever met”. Karlrobert Kreiten’s career as a sought-after soloist in piano recitals and orchestral concerts developed continuously until May 3, 1943. Then he was arrested by the Gestapo in a hotel in Heidelberg – he had made private political statements against National Socialism and about World War II, was denounced and reported to the “Reich Music Chamber”. Nothing happened for a few weeks, but three fanatical National Socialists did not let up, and his “case” ended up in the “Propaganda Ministry” and finally in the Gestapo. All rescue attempts – even by the famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler – were in vain: Kreiten was “executed” on September 7, 1943 in Berlin-Plötzensee. Unspeakable inflammatory articles against him appeared in the press.
Fortunately, he made some private recordings in Düsseldorf between 1934 and 1938, and we can hear him playing and his voice. Karlrobert’s father, the composer Theo Kreiten, wrote a very touching book about his son: “Whom the Gods Love – Memories of Karlrobert Kreiten”. It was first published in 1947 and contains a wealth of important information about the pianist who was brutally killed at the age of 27. On September 29, 2019 – after a “sensational discovery of sheet music” – the “Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra” by Theo Kreiten, Karlrobert’s father, had its premiere in Düsseldorf. 91 years after it was written!
Suicide 1964
The career of pianist Manfred Reinelt, born in 1932, also began very promisingly. As a child and later at the music academy in Leipzig, he studied under Professor Hugo Steurer, a well-known pianist and sought-after teacher. Later, Reinelt also turned intensively to musicology.
The musicologist Eberhardt Klemm, who died in 1991, still saw Reinelt in concert: “Some music lovers compared him to the young Walter Gieseking. Although his dexterity was self-evident, he worked on difficult pieces that particularly appealed to him like a man possessed. People knew that music was in good, absolutely reliable hands. He was not just a pianist of distinction: he was considered a musical authority.” Two records with radio recordings by Manfred Reinelt were released during the GDR era, which show him to be a brilliantly gifted artist who played not only contemporary works, but also music by Scarlatti, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Franck, Scriabin, Debussy and Ravel. As a lecturer at the Leipzig Music Academy, he came into conflict – as several letters show – with the “moral-educational” standards of training prescribed in the GDR at the time, and the rector slyly and cleverly suggested that he resign.
The “data situation” on Manfred Reinelt is still quite sparse today, but in the archive of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, there are some very interesting documents that give us at least some insight into the life and art of Manfred Reinelt.
A program by Thomas Böttger.
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