Conversations in Hebrew, Russian, German and English fill the air. Two of the orchestra\’s musicians play chess, loudly clapping down on the timer after each move. The creative chaos is just a little heady.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has been celebrating its 70th anniversary in style, hosting appearances by many of the orchestra\\\’s friends from over the years.
If it were a novel, no one would believe the 70-year saga of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, with its astonishing cast of famous characters, including Leonard Bernstein, Arturo Toscanini and Albert Einstein. But it\’s all true. It\’s a history ripe for Hollywood: An orchestra that has lived through wars and constant strife, performed on battlefields and had more than its own share of internal drama and turmoil.
\”Mozart does not belong to any nation. It would be a total misunderstanding for anyone to lay claim to Mozart,\” said Peter Marboe, Vienna Mozart Year artistic director. \”That makes it obscene that the Nazis should claim him as an example of a great German artist and all the while hide his Jewish collaborators.\”
The best way to discover Mozart here might be a night at the Vienna Opera. I was lucky enough to attend a performance of \”The Magic Flute\” during my visit, which was sponsored by Austria Tourism. This was classical Mozart through and through in terms of the music, but the performance was strikingly modern.
Nineteenth century composer and notorious anti-Semite Richard Wagner believed that a Jewish composer could never successfully treat serious mythical subject matter in music. But Wagner never anticipated Howard Shore.
\”Let My People Go-Go\” is a very kitschy CD, but this isn\’t your ordinary, everyday kitsch.
Influenced by Israeli folk dance and Sephardic music, the composer describes her new work as lyrical, colorful and rhythmic.
In a concert entitled \”The Light of Helfman-Generations of Music from the Brandeis-Bardin Institute\”, which celebrates Max Helfman, founder of Brandeis Bardin\’s Summer Arts Institute, the LAJS will inaugurate its sixth season with a performance of Handel\’s triumphant \”Judas Maccabeus\” in a Yiddish translation by Helfman.
Can music be a catalyst for peace in the Middle East? His Holiness the Dalai Lama thinks so, and he\’s not alone.
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