Lawrence Schoenberg, son of Arnold Schoenberg, visits Seattle Opera

Last Saturday at Seattle Opera, I was in the Press Room enjoying some refreshments when Hilda Cullen, director of public relations for Seattle Opera, announced that Lawrence Schoenberg, the son of Arnold Schoenberg was in the room. Several critics and guests gathered around Lawrence, who is the youngest child of Arnold Schoenberg (he has a brother and a sister). Lawrence is a pretty low-key fellow and has been retired from teaching math in the public school system for a number of years. He was looking forward to Seattle Opera's "Erwartung," which was on the second half of the program that evening. Lawrence travels often from his home in Los Angeles to Vienna, Austria where the Arnold Schoenberg Center is located. He mentioned that "Erwartung" is usually presented in a concert version rather than as an opera. I didn't see him after the show, but I think that he must have been impressed with Seattle Opera's production.

For those of you who want to travel back a couple of decades, here's a YouTube video of Lawrence Schoenberg, his mother Gertrud Schoenberg, and Rudolf Kolisch.