A legend among pianists of the twentieth century, Artur Schnabel (1882–1951) is best known as the first performer to record the complete Beethoven’s sonatas. The exiled Austro-German musician and composer was a giant of his time, but today he is nearly forgotten.
Pianist and Schnabel devotee Markus Pawlik (in collaboration with baritone Dietrich Henschel and the Szymanowski String Quartet) prepares to bring Artur Schnabel’s greatest compositions back in a major commemorative concert. Along the way, the film visits the places, landscapes, and history that shaped and inspired Schnabel’s life and music.
Lyrically realized by director Matthew Mishory, Artur Schnabel: No Place of Exile rediscovers an essential 20th century artist displaced by the catastrophe of the two World Wars and the Holocaust and inspired by the possibilities of modernism.