The invention of 'genocide' and a shared passion for music - A Song of Good and Evil

A Song of Good and Evil at the Berwald Hallen, Stockholm
with Philippe Sands, Emma Pallant

When I talked to director Nina Brazier last year (see my interview) she was preparing for performances of A Song of Good and Evil in Nuremberg at the Palace of Justice on the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials, a performance which had great resonance as the work deals with the conflict and connections between three men at the heart of the Nuremberg trials - Cambridge academic Hersch Lauterpacht (who came up with the phrase Crimes against Humanity), Polish prosecutor Raphael Lemkin (who invented the word Genocide), and Hitler’s lawyer Hans Frank. All three men had a shared passion for music.

Written by the international human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, A Song of Good and Evil mixes spoken narrative with live performance of music by Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Misraki and Leonard Cohen to create a personal exploration of the origins of modern justice and the fate of individuals and groups.

The production has been touring extensively and returns to London for a short run at Kings Place on 16 to 18 May 2016. At Kings Place, Philippe Sands will be joined by renowned German actress Katja Riemann (making her London debut) as co-narrator, plus bass-baritone Laurent Naouri and jazz pianist Guillaume de Chassy. There is a short Q&A session with the performers hosted by Jon Snow following Wednesday’s performance .



Full information from the Kings Place website.