May Festival opens with an operatic triumph

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There is an interesting local connection to tonight's composer, Eric Zeisl, who died in 1959. He composed his Requiem Ebraico in memory of his father, a victim of the Holocaust. The son barely escaped, himself, and eventually made his way to L.A., with a host of other prominent composers and musicians who were fleeing Europe. (I remember seeing Darius Milhaud come down for concerts while I was a student at Stanford... )

So here's some interesting geneaology about Eric Zeisl, according to James Conlon:

After he came from Vienna to Southern California, Zeisl raised a family and his daughter, Barbara, married Ronald Schoenberg, now a retired judge and the son of composer Arnold Schoenberg (who by then was also living in L.A.).

Barbara and Ronald have a son, E. Randol Schoenberg, the prominent lawyer who fought to get the Gustav Klimt paintings in Vienna back to their rightful owners in L.A. Randol Schoenberg is married to a woman from Cincinnati, but no one can recall her name. If you know it, let us know!