There is a moment that defines every musician’s career. More often than not that is their premiere. That moment when they are heard, never to be forgotten. I believe for everybody that moment comes at different times. For some, their premieres come later in life.
Today I learned about a Polish woman named Natalia Karp and I feel everybody needs to hear her story. It is one of bravery and triumph in the most perilous and horrible of circumstances.
World War II destroyed lives. Many were cruelly murdered. Families were separated — all hope seemed lost. In such horrible bleakness, there were some who rose up and chose not to let the circumstances define them. Natalia Karp was one of those people.
Caught trying to escape the Tarnow Ghetto, Natalia and her sister were sent to Plasvow to be executed. The day they arrived Natalia was summoned, presumably to be shot, when to her great surprise she was brought to Amon Goeth’s (the commander’s) birthday party and ordered to play the piano. Natalia sat down to the keyboard knowing that this was a matter of life and death — that these might be her very last moments on earth.
Nobly, she began to play Chopin’s Nocturne in C sharp minor. It has a melody that seems to cry from the heart, relentless but soft. When she finished Goeth, was so pleased with her performance that he declared that “she shall live.” (from her interview found in sound-cloud). Brave as ever Natalia replied that if she were to live her sister must as well. Goeth consented.
Natalia and her sister suffered many more days in the holocaust camp, but because of Natalia’s performance they were saved from execution. Both Natalia and her sister survived the war.
After World War II ended Natalia remarried and had a very successful performing career. In an interview recorded in the London Times Natalia recounted that she “retrieved an instrument from a bombed house and began practicing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto ‘because it needs a lot of strength’, she remembered telling herself: ‘And I must show them that they didn’t defeat me, they didn’t get me down -I am stronger than them’” For Natalia music became a strength, a motivation, a beacon. Haven’t we all felt those affects of music?
Now you may tell me that this wasn’t a premiere…Chopin’s piece was almost 100 years old, and Natalia was a student prodigy so she must have performed before, but may I share some additional insight?
First, Chopin’s Nocturne in C Sharp Minor was published 21 years after his death, and we have no record of him ever performing it (although surely countless others have by now). Second, while Natalia was a gifted pianist and must have performed before World War II, those times were very very few and she was forced to set aside her musical career early on to care for her family. My conclusion is that singular performance is what started it all. Natalia’s musical career, her fame, her very life was dependent on that fateful night in 1943 when she was ordered to perform unsure if she would live to see another day.
I hope none of us ever have to experience what Natalia did, to have our very life dependent on our performance. But, I do believe we should ask ourselves now — today how we can not let our circumstances define us, but rather make the best of them — make them our own. Our destiny is not decided based on our circumstances. We don’t have to be living in the best of times to connect with our music, to play well, to excel, to reach our goals! We are the ones that control our actions, that have the choice to choose who we are today and what we will do with every second we have been given.
I hope her story inspired you as much as it inspired me. To know that there are people like Natalia inspire me to be a bit braver and dig a little deeper. Below you can find links to a recording of an interview with Natalia, as well as a recording of her playing Chopin’s Nocturne in C sharp minor after the war. From this day on whenever I hear Chopin’s Nocturne I will think of Natalia and what her story means to me.
Interview:
https://soundcloud.com/marklowen/my-grandmother-holocaust-survivor-natalia-karp
Chopin’s Nocturne in C Sharp Minor played by Natalia Karp:
Other resources used:
Natalia karp: [final 1 edition]. (2007, Jul 14). The Times Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy4.library.arizona.edu/newspapers/natalia-karp/docview/319758162/se-2?accountid=8360
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