The orchestra’s stuck in traffic? Leave it to the soloist

Our correspondent Dan Yakir reports from Tel Aviv:

The Israel Philharmonic is a travelling orchestra. On top of performing in their home base at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv each subscription concert is usually played also in Jerusalem and Haifa.

On Monday evening the orchestra travelled by bus from Tel Aviv to Haifa (100 km) but the bus got stuck midway. The soloist of the concert Gil Shaham, who arrived early to play the Barber concerto, stepped up to give a 25-minute solo recital that included Bach Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin and an encore he played the night before in Tel Aviv. It’s a piece that was written especially for him during lockdown: Isolation Rag by Scott Wheeler.

After intermission, the orchestra arrived safe and sound and played under Andrés Orozco-Estrada the opening piece of the concert – Candide Overture by Bernstein – and the concluding piece: Symphony no. 5 by Shostakovich.