Maestro blows the shofar

Maestro blows the shofar

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norman lebrecht

September 21, 2017

A happy new year from Ivan Fischer.

Comments

  • Robert Roy says:

    I wonder if Ivan Fischer’s aware of the Shofar part in Elgar’s ‘ The Kingdom ‘.

    • dorset dick says:

      I think it is the Apostles.

    • bratschegirl says:

      Thank you for expanding my education! I’d had no idea that Elgar or anyone else had written for shofar. But is it possible that you meant “The Apostles”? That’s where I see references to it online, rather than The Kingdom.

  • What year are we in right now?

  • Anon says:

    The cause the Shofar stands for, is one of the most disgusting stories as far as religion is concerned.
    An “all loving” God tells a father to kill his son because God wants human sacrifice. And when dad is about to do it, he says, “April fools, just wanted to test your faith”.
    Could a more cruel God be imagined?

  • James MacMillan says:

    I write for 2 shofars in a piece called Seven Angels.

  • James Hill says:

    I missed the spoken intro – is he auditioning for a chair in an HIP orchestra?

  • Sue says:

    Ivan Fischer and the excellent Budapest Festival Orchestra I’ve seen at the Musikverein in 2011. Wonderful conductor and superb orchestra. I watch everything this conductor does with great interest.

    • He was also great with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. I had some of my most memorable Mahler concerts featuring this man. I like him very much.

      Could anyone confirm that he also speak Dutch? I remember watching one of his interviews by the Concertgebouworkest, where he seemed to be speaking Dutch. And it sounded pretty fluent, at least for me, who doesn’t know anything about Dutch. I am curious how many foreign languages does he speak?

  • John daszak says:

    Sho-far, sho-good!

  • Jeanne Swack says:

    I have to say that my shul’s best playerwere better (and held the top note a bit), and our new player held the tekiah gedolah an impressively long time. This one was pretty good though. The long horns always sound better than actual ram’s horns. For a moderately sized shul we are deep in shofar talent.

  • Robert Fried says:

    According to Rabbinic interpretation, the ‘Binding of Isaac’ (not the ‘Sacrifice of Isaac’ as the Christians refer to it), appears in the Book of Genesis as a clear signal that Judaism does not require, nor approve of human sacrifice; this at a time when the ancient Middle Eastern religions were rife with practicing it. Therefore, contrary to some of the ignorant and cynical interpretations posted, it actually is a testimony to a humane Judaism and religion.

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