Bernstein, Barenboim, Leonard Cohen. Who’s next?
NewsIn 1948, Leonard Bernstein spent several weeks in Israel giving morale-boosting concerts in the desert.
In 1967, Daniel Barenboim flew out, ending the war with his wedding to Jacqueline du Pre.
In 1973, it was the turn of Leonard Cohen to sing to embattled warriors in the Negev.
In 2023, the first foreign artist to show solidarity on the ground is Igor Levit.
He walks in giant footsteps.
Zubin Mehta came to Israel during the six days war when nobody dared, he also came during the 1973 war and during the 1991 gulf war.
Shame it’s necessary!
Isaac Stern 1991 during the Gulf war, and of course Toscanini 1936 – to inaugurate the philharmonic orchestra during dark times…
Yes who can forget the master self promoter’s photo op at a bomb shelter posing with his fiddle and gas mask….
Isaac Stern was no self-promoter, but rather a master musician and a humanitarian who stood both for Israel (always) and peace (always). The photo referenced in freddynyc’s ignorant and ill-spirited comment was not a photo op, and it was not in a bomb shelter. During a performance with the IPO in Tel-Aviv in 1991, the air raid sirens sounded, and the musicians scrambled to get off stage. Everyone, including performers and audience, donned gas masks. Stern came back on stage, with no mask, and played Bach until calm was restored. Facts are indeed important.
A master musician and a humanitarian who blocked other musicians’ careers and who was more political than anything else for most of his life because he stopped caring for intonation and beauty of sound…and still did not want to give up his own career. Quite an example indeed.
Oliver, I think you should see a video on YouTube of Stern when he was 60, Abbado and, I think, Orchestre de Paris of a live performance of the Beethoven Concerto. It is absolutely terrific on all levels. He is truly into the piece, and his intonation, technique and musicianship are the tops! I promise you that it is definitely worth watching.
Freddynyc could only dream of having one hair from Stern’s balls. Too easy to “mock” a musical legend and soldier from a comfortable desk in complete anonymity. Unless he’s an antisemitic coward, of course…
Who plays for the Palestinians?
Barenboim played in Ramallah.
Barenboim is a self-hating Jew, megalomaniac (who in the history of music has named a piano after him/herself or submitted his own name for the Nobel prize??)…
Are you kidding? Do they care?
Today the remains of Vivian Silver, a known peace activist, were identified. She was 74. Yesterday Hamas released footage of Noa Marciano, a 19 year old captured female soldier. She was badly mutilated. Later, her apparent body was displayed, shot in the head.
Their torturers do not deserve music.
I keep hoping we’ll see a cellist set up in the rubble from Israel’s bombings – a la Rostropovich at the Berlin Wall or the guys who’ve played in Ukraine, Baghdad, and Sarajevo. Obviously, that would be utterly dangerous but it would make a powerful statement of resilience in this dark time.
I’m sure any number would once the scourge of Hamas is ended.
The difference is that in 1948, 1967, and 1973 there was nothing comparable to Benjamin Netanyahu who is a politician of hatred, no land being occupied, no settlements, no captive people being bombed, and a vastly smaller ratio of civilian causalities. At least outside of Israel, this has left many in the Jewish community in a quandary and has accounted for a degree of hesitancy about how to show one’s support. Serious reforms are needed. These are the truths that need to be addressed to insure Israel’s future.
And you think there were less Jew-hatred in 1948, 1967 or ever? Laughable.
No. But there were less useful ediots like guest.
Don’t fool yourself, the point is that in recent years Netanyahu has alienated many people in the international Jewish community and some of Israel’s staunchest allies.
There is no difference between then and now, Israel has been viciously attacked, and the attacks continue as we speak. Daily rockets raining on innocent civilians in Tel Aviv, and 200+ hostages are still held in the terror tunnels by Hamas and friends. Israelis in 2023 deserve the support of all musicians who understand the situation and come to comfort them. The Jewish community outside of Israel is not in a quandary, just scared that radical Islam has reached its long arm to Europe and US. Most Jews, moderate Muslims, Christians, and others, do not support a terrorist organization, and will be happy to see Hamas wiped out. I suspect that many Gazans would also be happy to see Hamas go. BTW, in your careful ratio calculations, are you including casualties of Hamas human shields, and the dead terrorists themselves? Many Israelis are not crazy about Netanyahu, and yet the Israel is unified at the moment. Think about why that is. And stop following Al Jazeera news, for goodness’ sakes! Check out travelingisrael.com on YouTube for some history lessons.
Guest: “Muslims, Christians, and others, do not support a terrorist organization, and will be happy to see Hamas wiped out.” You can’t just wipe out Hamas when the Fatah-led government is controlled by Hamas.
When most Israelis supported compromise, they were repeatedly turned down by the Palestinians. As time went by, more and more Israelis realized a compromise is a mirage -something impossible to reach even when seem to be very close. October 7th made Israelis kess likely than ever before to take more risks. As for Netanyahu and his following: Probably most Israelis agree.
Oh, really? Ever heard of Pinhas Lavon? And dear old Ariel Sharon was not that keen on “serious reforms.”
Autre temps, autre moeurs, to be sure, but instances of Israeli response that many, including its own citizens, find difficult to swallow did not start with ‘Yahu. You might say they started with Deir Yassin.
Israel will prevail in the current situation and crisis. I for one devoutly hope they do. But the cost has already emerged. It is not in the casualties — both sides will suffer those, and to both they will be tragic. It is in the sudden, and very frightening, willingness of people who previously just thought Arabs were human too, and should be treated as such, to demonstrate against Israel so very nastily.
I feel sure many who went on marches initially were simply concerned that civilians in Gaza were getting the brunt of the formidable Israeli strike force. But their sincerity has been co-opted by militant anti-Semites, almost (not quite, thank God) giving anti-Semitism a patina of respectability. Much the same as people who honestly believe — have always believed — that black lives matter have been co-opted by a band of thugs called Black Lives Matter.
I saw an article in the Telegraph with a video clip of two very young women about to go out on a pro-Palestinian demo. Neither had any clue that Hamas had struck Israel on October 7. What, I asked myself, were they demonstrating for? I can only assume images of bombings of Gaza and scare stories about dead civilians — which are true. But how can people not know anything about the roots of all this? (And that includes the fact that this did NOT start on October 7).
And last night I watched as much as I could of Jeremy Corbyn refusing to answer Piers Morgan’s perfectly reasonable question: “Do you consider Hamas to be a terrorist group?” I am a child of the left, and in my student days everyone — everyone — was unquestioningly pro-Israel. I had a couple of Arab friends from the library, where I worked part-time, and if I had coffee with either of them on breaks my friends would not join us. (I found that just as racist then as I do the dismissal of Palestinian humanity now). But I am bemused as to how the left has become so associated with anti-Semitism that a Labour leader could allow it to thrive in his party and even now, disengaged from any political balancing act he might have thought he had to do, cannot make a simple admission of fact.
Then I read that a terrifyingly small percentage of young people in the UK even know what the Holocaust was, and of course we all know they could not identify the years of WWI or WWII — what in God’s name are they teaching in schools? Gender definitions?
I hope a few of them watch the series on the Fifty Year War on BBC 4. They might learn something. Starting with, there is plenty blame to go around. And neither side has entirely clean hands.
Instead of writing ignorant comments, “guest” should try learning at least a little bit of relevant fairly recent history. For example, “no land occupied” by Israel in 1973, really? In fact, since June of 1967 until after 1980 Israel was controlling far MORE land than it is now: the entire vast territory of Sinai Peninsula (the whole thing given to Egypt in 1982) and all of Gaza (from where Israel withdrew completely in 2005), not to mention those parts of the West Bank that have been ruled by the local government for a while now, but not before the early 1990s.
History is going to decide how Netanyahu will be judged. Certainly not us. I suspect he will be remembered as one of the last great leaders.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Read some history.
Not only is Igor Levitt an admirable pianist with an extraordinary musical talent, but he is also a great human being. His chats with Robert Habeck merit all my admiration. You are one of a kind, Igor. Thanks for staying for good in a vast garden of evil
I have been to Israel three times (on business). There are countries such a Russia, China, and Myanmar where I like (most of) the people, but dislike their rulers. There are a few countries (such as Israel) where I dislike the government and (most of) the people — except Mr and Mrs Finkler in Tel Aviv, long ago).
To return to Norman’s original post, another conductor who appeared in Israel from Feb to early May 1948 (i.e. during Israel’s War of Independence), was Jascha Horenstein. He got the job after Bernstein, Monteux and Munch pulled out, too scared to come to Israel while the war was going on. For those who want facts, the Palestine Post the NY Times and a number of Israeli newspapers reported on the above in Jan. and Feb. 1948.
Wow, I am just discovering classical music. I thought this site was about that. So political and so many hateful comments. It makes me sad. I am a Christian and I pray for all the groups involved. Not sure I will come back to this site.