Émigré Cabaret

With Norbert Meyn, tenor and Christopher Gould, piano

This cabaret song recital tells the story of musicians who fled the Nazis in the 1930s and found a new home in Britain. Told through their songs, the story combines romantic nostalgia, dark and hilarious humour, fighting in the British Army, food recipes and post war optimism as expressed in the 1951 Festival of Britain, to which many émigré artists contributed. From ‘Wiener Schnitzel’ and ‘Come back to Soho’ to ‘Adolf, we come!’ and ‘In Exile’, enter a time when supremely talented musicians had to fight for their survival and managed to keep their spirits up through song. The programme includes songs by Robert Kahn, Karl Rankl, Hans Gál, Mátyás Seiber and Eric Sanders.

This concert comes at the end of a day symposium, "A Tonic to the Nation: Refugees and Immigrants at the Festival of Britain" initiated and organised by Monica Bohm-Duchen, founding director of Insiders/Outsiders, an ongoing celebration of the contribution made by refugees from Nazi Europe to British culture, in partnership with St John’s Waterloo. You can find out more and register for the symposium (including the option of a ticket inclusive of the concert) here and the accompanying exhibition 'Music, Migration and Mobility' here.