A Yiddish Literary Evening with Evgeny Kissin and Katerina Kuznetsova on Tuesday, 1 October 2024 from 6:00 p.m. at the Atrium Hof 7 (University of Vienna Main Building, "Tiefparterre", between staircases 11 and 9 - Floor Map )

We ask for your understanding that bag checks will be carried out at the entrance to this event and ask you to arrive on time (admission starts at 5.30 pm)

About the Evening

Yiddish, the traditional vernacular of East European Jewish communities and also long associated with the past and/or Ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic circles, has recently seen a vigorous revival. In its modern incarnation, Yiddish is often consciously chosen as a means of literary expression by authors who have not, or at best marginally, been raised in that language.

This event brings together two modern Yiddish writers who employ very different poetic styles and assign different personal meanings to the language. The readings will be interspersed with recordings of musical compositions by Evgeny Kissin.

About the Authors

Evgeny Igorevich Kissin, born 1971 in Moscow, is one of the world’s most renowned concert pianists. He has been playing the piano since the age of two and started studying the instrument professionally at six years old. The beginnings of his journey into Yiddish literature reach back to the 1990s. Mr. Kissin’s first anthology featuring his own Yiddish poetry and prose was published in 2019.

Katerina Kuznetsova, born 1989 in Moscow, is a Yiddish-language lyricist, researcher, and teacher as well as co-founder of the platform Yiddish. Berlin . She studied Yiddish at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lives today in Berlin.

Programme

Welcome and Introduction

Andreas Brandtner | Director, Vienna University Library
Monika Schreiber | Jewish Studies Library, Vienna University Library

Author Reading and Talk

Evgeny Kissin
Katerina Kuznetsova
Moderation:
Kriszta Eszter Szendrői | Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna

Vegetarian reception

Cooperations
• Fachbereichsbibliothek Judaistik (Jewish Studies Library), UB Wien
• Fachbereichsbibliothek Musikwissenschaft (Musicology Library), UB Wien
• Institut für Sprachwissenschaft (Department of Linguistics), Universität Wien
• Institut für Judaistik (Department of Jewish Studies), Universität Wien
• YUNG YiDiSH WIEN 

Musical compositions by Evgeny Kissin
• Four Piano Pieces op. 1, Nr. 2: Dodecaphonic Tango. Piano: E Kissin. Source: YouTube.
• Four Piano Pieces op. 1, Nr. 4: Toccata. Piano: E Kissin. Source: YouTube.
• String Quartet op. 3: 3. Largo drammatico. Kopelman Quartet. Recording: Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2, Elegy & Polka / Kissin: Quartett (2016), Kopelman Quartet, Label: Nimbus ℗ 2018.
Selection: Reinhard Ellensohn, Musicology Library, Vienna University Library

Publications
• Kisin, Evgenij Igorevič, and Boris Sandler. A Yidisher sheygets : noveles, lider, iberzetsungen. Nyu-Yorḳ: Yidish Branzshe, 2019.
• Poems and essays by Katerina have appeared in: Afn shvel (no. 394-395), Yiddishland (no. 19, 20, 21), Birobidzhaner shtern https://www.gazetaeao.ru/125256-2/ , as well as in the debut issue of the new Yiddish magazine Di goldene pave http://stichtingjiddisj.nl/