An evening of film and music honoring Poland’s Jewish reawakening

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Bronislaw HubermanBronislaw Huberman

In 2009, the world-renowned American violinist Joshua Bell stood on a stage in Czestochowa, Poland, to play Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D on a Stradivarius violin, the very same violin that had been owned and played in the same town by the Polish Jewish violin prodigy Bronislaw Huberman. Not only that, but in 1894, the 12-year-old Huberman played the same concerto on that same violin in front of its composer, Johannes Brahms. He continued to play that same violin for the next 42 years, only to have it stolen during a concert at Carnegie Hall, in New York City, in 1936.

The mystery of how that Stradivarius – the “ex-Huberman” Stradivarius – wound up on stage with Joshua Bell back in Czestochowa is revealed in the documentary film “The Return of the Violin,” which will be shown at Temple Emanu-El, in Providence, on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m.

The amazing stories of Huberman and the journeys of the ex-Huberman Strad defy a simple summary. For example, young Bronislaw grew up to become one of the leading international soloists of his day, but he spent much of his time during the late 1930s helping German Jewish musicians escape to Palestine and then forming what would eventually become the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Many years earlier, in Vienna, Huberman’s precious Strad had been stolen by a hotel-room thief. Luckily, it was found within a few hours when the thief tried to sell it. It was then returned. The mystery of the Carnegie Hall theft took 50 years to solve.

During that time, World War II and the Holocaust engulfed all of Polish Jewry, but how that played out in Czestochowa and eventually led to the return of the ex-Huberman Strad is the other intricate storyline in “The Return of the Violin.”

Some critics have claimed that the film is a Holocaust film, but this is a distortion. It is impossible to tell the story of Czestochowa’s Jews without telling about the Holocaust, but in this telling, the focus is on Sigmund Rolat, a survivor who became a successful businessman in the U.S. and who devoted an enormous amount of energy, time and resources to bringing recognition to Polish Jewry’s invaluable role in Polish and world history.

Rolat is an activist for the promotion of the culture and history of Czestochowa, an editor of history books, and an organizer and founder of numerous cultural events, including concerts. His positivity and passions are part of the film, and they are intricately woven into the concert, the orchestra and the occasion that brought Bell and the ex-Huberman Strad back to Czestochowa.

Throughout the film, Bell plays snippets of Brahms’ beautiful Violin Concerto in D, but viewers never get to hear the full concerto. At Temple Emanu-El, after the film and a short break for light refreshments, violinist Maya Ramchandran, of the New England Conservatory of Music, will play the second and third movements of that beautiful and technically difficult concerto. She will be accompanied by pianist Ben Nacar, from Brown University, who will play a piano reduction of the full orchestral score. 

The screening is the second event in Arts Emanu-El’s 2015-2016 season of Jewish arts and culture. Four events are scheduled for next year: “Singing the Dream,” a concert honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; a coffee house on March 12 with lively entertainment and light refreshments; an art exhibit on April 3; and a Holocaust memorial concert on May 4, “Phoenix from the Ashes: Terezin in Words and Music” by Judith Lynn Stillman. Tickets for each event go on sale three weeks prior to the event date.

To purchase tickets for the Nov. 21 screening of “The Return of the Violin” and the recital at Temple Emanu-El, go to TEProv.org or send a check to: Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Ave., Providence, RI  02906 (with note: Return-Violin). Tickets include the film, light refreshments and the recital. Early purchase, $15; at the door, $18.

LINDA SHAMOON is co-chair of Arts Emanu-El at Temple Emanu-El.