Artists in Exile

During the first half of the twentieth century - decades of European war and revolution - an "intellectual migration" relocated thousands of artists and thinkers to the United States, including some of Europe's supreme performing artists, and makers of film, theater, and ballet. America proved a destination both strange and opportune. A "foreign homeland" (Thomas Mann), it would frustrate and confuse, and yet afford a clarity of understanding unencumbered by native habit and bias. However inadvertently, the condition of cultural exile would promote acute inquiries into the American experience. How did these famous newcomers impact on American culture, and how did America impact upon them? George Balanchine, in collaboration with Stravinsky, famously created an Americanized version of Russian classical ballet. Kurt Weill, schooled in Berlin jazz, composed a Broadway opera. Rouben Mamoulian's revolutionary Broadway productions of Porgy and Bess and Oklahoma! drew upon Russian "total theater." An army of German film-makers, including F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, and Billy Wilder, made Hollywood more edgy and cosmopolitan. Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich redefined film sexuality. Erich Korngold upholstered the sound of the movies. Rudolf Serkin inspirationally inculcated dour Germanic canons of musical interpretation. And yet for most of the grateful arts emigres transplanted to a New World haven, American freedoms more diluted than amplified their high creative ambitions. The book features: CINEMA Marlene Dietrich 1930 from Germany to Hollywood Greta Garbo 1925 from Sweden to Hollywood F. W. Murnau (director of Nosferatu) 1926 from Germany toHollywood Ernst Lubitsch (director of Ninotchka) 1923 from Germany to Hollywood Fritz Lang (director of Metropolis and M) 1934 from Germany to Hollywood Billy Wilder (director of Some Like It Hot) 1934 from Germany to Hollywood DANCE George Balanchine 1933 from France to New York (born in Russia) THEATER Alla Nazimova (actress) 1905 from Europe to New York (born in Russia) Max Reinhardt (director) 1934 from Austria to Hollywood Rouben Mamoulian (theater and film director - e.g. of "Porgy and Bess," "Oklahoma!," "Carousel") 1923 from Europe to New York (born in Russia) Boris Aronson (leading Broadway designer - e.g. Fiddler on the Roof) 1923 from Europe to New York (born in Russia) MUSIC Igor Stravinsky 1939 from France to LA (born in Russia) Kurt Weill (composer) 1935 from France to New York (born in Germany) Erich Korngold (composer of film scores: The Sea Hawk, Adventures of Robin Hood, etc) 1935 from Austria to Hollywood Edgard Varese (composer) 1917 from France to New York Rudolf Serkin (pianist) 1935 from Europe to US Leopold Stokowski (conductor) 1905 from England to Philadelphia Serge Koussevitzky (conductor) 1924 from France to Boston (born in Russia)Horowitz, Joseph I. is the author of 'Artists in Exile', published 2008 under ISBN 9780060748463 and ISBN 006074846X.