Philippe Sands: East West Street

One city, two crimes, the lives of four men and the transformative power of music: a truly memorable performance piece.

80 years since the Nuremberg Trials and 10 years on since the publication of East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, this is a talk illuminated by its connection to music. While writing his powerful book, Philippe Sands gave a lecture in which music found itself playing a prominent part.

The talk evolved into a moving and thought-provoking performance piece, with music threaded in and out of its stories. Adding music completely altered the emotional atmosphere of the work. As Sands himself puts it, “Words rarely cause an audience to weep... The introduction of music is transformative”.

Laurent Naouri bass-baritone
Guillaume de Chassy piano

Philippe Sands narrator
Katja Riemann narrator

Nina Brazier director

Ravel:: L’énigme éternelle (from Deux mélodies hébraiques, Op.22)
Prokofiev:: Overture on Hebrew Themes, Op. 34
Frédéric Chaslin (in the style of Richard Strauss):: Dem lieben Minister Frank
Beethoven:: Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor, “Pathétique”, Op.13
Rachmaninov, arr. Guillaume de Chassy:: “Melodya”, op. 21 no. 9
Eisler:: Die Landschaft des Exils
Busoni, after J.S. Bach:: Chorale-prelude: “Ich ruf’ zu dir”, BWV639
J.S. Bach:: “Gerne will ich mich bequemen” (St Matthew Passion, BWV 244)
J.S. Bach:: “Erbarme dich, mein Gott” (St Matthew Passion, BWV 244)
Misraki:: Insensiblement
Cohen:: Anthem