Live review: Israel Philharmonic plays to no-one and the world
NewsFrom our special correspondent in Tel Aviv, Dan Yakir:
Fifty years ago I attended my first concert of the Israel Philharmonic. I was 14 years old and the Yom Kippur war broke on Saturday, October 6, 1973. Less than three weeks later and a day before the war ended the Philharmonic came to Haifa, my home town, and gave a free concert. The venue in Haifa back than was Armon cinema. The Armon Cinema was opened in 1935 during the British mandate. Due to its large capacity, the Armon Cinema was used for performances by the Israel Philharmonic and the Israeli Opera. On hot nights, the roof above the balcony was opened to allow air to circulate. Because of that feature the building was deemed unsafe against bombing and the concert took place at the Haifa Municipal Theatre.
Shalom Ronly-Riklis was the conductor. The concert opened with the overture to La Forza del Destino. The bass Raffaele Arie, an Israeli opera singer with international reputation, sang arias by Verdi and Rossini and the concert concluded with Dvorak Symphony no. 9 “From the New World”.
Two days later the Philharmonic played a similar concert in Tel Aviv but the second half was conducted by Danny Kaye.
During one of the concerts of the Philharmonic in Jerusalem at the gulf war in February 1991 a siren was heard. The soloist Isaac Stern put on a gas mask and played some Bach.
Fifty years later, on Saturday, October 7, 2023 some 2,500 Hamas invaders from the Gaza strip attacked civilian communities in the southern part of Israel and at least 1,400 Israelis were killed. Since then Israel is in a state of war.
It was the last day of the High Holidays and immediately after the holidays it is the time for the festive opening season concerts of all the musical ensembles. In light of the situation all cultural activities came to a halt and all the halls are dark.
Players from the Philharmonic immediately organized themselves in groups of three or four and are traveling across the country to play in hospitals for the wounded or in hotels to families that were evacuates. Players of Meitar Ensemble (the leading contemporary music ensemble in Israel) are playing house concerts for lonely senior citizens.
In light of the situation the season opening concert of the Israel Philharmonic with Mahler 3 conducted by music director Lahav Shani was postponed. Tonight almost fifty years later to the date I attended its first concert of the season. It was held before an empty hall and it was live streamed and live broadcast by “Kol Hamusica” (the Voice of Music) – the classical music station of the Public Broadcasting Corporation. It opened with the national anthem “Hatikva” (the Hope) and continued with Fanfare to Israel by Paul Ben Haim (one of the founding fathers of Israeli classical music). The performance was festive and uplifting.
Then Lahav Shani addressed the viewers of the live stream and the listeners of the radio broadcast with words of condolences and hope. He quoted Leonard Bernstein who said after the assassination of president Kennedy: “Our music will never again be quite the same. This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”
The concert concluded with a robust and energetic performance of Beethoven Eroica Symphony.
The hall was dead silent except for the voice of the broadcaster. After the concert some of the musicians expressed the emotional and psychological difficulty participating in the concert. Not only the deep personal and national concern in time of war and not only playing in front of an empty hall, there was another factor : they were facing an installation of more than 200 photos that were attached to the seats of the front rows of the hall, each and every one of them with the word “Kidnapped” on top. Those were the pictures of Israeli civilians who were kidnapped by Hamas during the horrendous attack on October 7 and they are still held as hostages in Gaza strip.
It’s very hard to estimate when cultural life will resume in Israel. I sure hope it will be sooner rather than later. Music is needed more than ever.
Dan Yakir of Slipped Disc was among a tiny group of music critics admitted to the concert.
The most poignant part of the event was the 200 posters on each seat.
Did they play Threnody for the Victims of Israeli Genocide?
Just like any belligerent ever did.
Did it ever cross your mind that Gazzas troubles can be over the moment they free the hostages and hand over the sadistic rapist-killers?
Is any video recording of this concert?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3haMW-gqac
What a beautiful response by these esteemed musicians. May we conquer the evil- doers soon and return to the joys of music.
Beautifully evocative, even to one who lives in Israel now, the musicians grief was felt
Wonderful. A magnificent, heartfelt gesture. Bravi!
I’ve been there yesterday, with very few journalists in the audience. It was very touching and expressing. The best Eroica I have ever heard. And heart-breaking photos of the hostages on chairs
It was a fantastic concert and Lahav Shani and his orchestra gave every ounce of energy to make it so.
Inspiring and uplifting!
But where’s the call for the end of violence?
Why were they afraid to mark this concert as a call for an immediate ceasefire and a release of all hostages?!
Musicians have an obligation not only to console but to be true humanitarians, to be like the great Pablo Cassals and many others!
I believe–maybe naively–that in their heart, the IPO Musicians wanted to make this a call for ending the violence, ending the inhumane siege of Gaza, solving the Israeli Palestinian conflict – which everyone knows what it should be – ending the occupation, 2 states, East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state. But they were afraid to say it out loud, to go against the current groupthink which is “invade them and kill them”. I know, because I’m Israeli.
No everyone does NOT know what the solution “should be.” Especially Hamas which says the solution is to drive every Jew into the sea.
Art in the face of war; kudos to those brave musicians
I watched the concert live on youtube, from my home in Paris, and it was very moving. Thank you to the Israel Philharmonic musicians and Lahav Shani.
I am shocked by, so far, the apparent absence of any musical tributes or benefits by orchestras in the US, or other major presenters. Unfortunately, there is no national organization of classical musicians to help organize benefits. I’m told Perlman will give on in Carnegie Hall soon, but he should not be alone in that. How often do orchestras program Jewish composers anyway? When’s the last time you saw Bloch or Ben-Haim programmed?
So if and hopefully not when the israeli army invades Gaza and kills thousands of innocent civilians including children and the sick and old in contravention of international law,, will we see a concert with all their faces on the seats? Most likely not because the is not a hall large enough to accommodate them.
Thank you for allowing to listen and feel the wonderful music that the IPO under it’s excellent conductor played . I hope that in the not too distant future it will play under happier circumstances.. meanwhile thank you again for what did for the country and hostages.